AARP, the nation’s largest organization for people age fifty and older, has illustrated an inpatient hospital room focused on patient safety, identifying 16 features used by innovative hospitals around the country.
Cynthia Hayward
Headwalls Versus Booms in Intensive Care Units
A key decision when planning an intensive care unit is whether to use a flat headwall or a ceiling-mounted boom for power, medical gases, and monitoring and communications systems. The traditional headwall system provides consistency and predictability in a room’s configuration and the location of equipment and supplies. A boom provides added flexibility in how the room is configured and provides easier access to the patient’s head and electrical/gas wall connections. Headwalls range in cost from $6,000-$8,000 while dual-arm booms may cost from $25,000 to $30,000. Factors to be considered include patient acuity; frequency of full-head access; whether procedures will be performed at the bedside; and budget.
Source: GenesisNews, March 2016. [www.genesis-planning.com]
Redefining Patient-Centered Care
A lot has changed since the concept of patient-centered care was first introduced several decades ago. The old definition of patient-centered care used to be bringing care of the patient to the bedside. That model ― which included decentralizing diagnostic equipment, pharmacies, and supply rooms to each inpatient floor ― proved too costly both from a facility and labor perspective. Today, the patient-centered care concept has moved to a relationship-based care model focused on orienting a health care organization around the preferences and needs of patients with the intention of improving the patient’s satisfaction with care and improving his or her clinical outcome. Today, the definition has also been expanded to include family members and is often referred to as the patient- and family-centered care (PFCC) model.
What’s New in Radiology? Highlights of the RSNA 2015 Annual Meeting
The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in late November 2015 is the premier scientific and educational meeting that brings together radiologists, oncologists, physicists, radiological technologists, and allied healthcare professionals from around the world. This meeting used to be dominated by “heavy metal” with flashy introductions of new imaging modalities. Today, there is more emphasis on smaller, light-weight, mobile, and more versatile equipment, along with new software enhancements for existing equipment to provide better clinical data and workflow productivity.
Patient Room 2020 Prototype Unveiled
NXT Health opened a full-scale prototype of the Patient Room 2020 at the DuPont™ Corian® Design Studio in New York city. Over an 18 month period, NXT enlisted the support of 30 industry partners to build the prototype — a truly collaborative process where each partner integrated its products into the overall design. The prototype has now been transformed from a virtual rendering to a physical space.
Evidence Grows That Hospital Design Can Improve Outcomes
An article in the Harvard Business Review reports that hospital design can improve clinical outcomes as well as patient satisfaction. In fact, research continues to show that specific design concepts can prevent the spread of hospital-acquired infections, reduce patient pain, and shorten hospital stays. It seems obvious that newly designed hospitals with hotel-like amenities will increase patient satisfaction. But researchers are now actually measuring before and after costs and outcomes of these newly designed hospitals.