Architectural Medical Resiliency

Medical design professionals feel the turbulence within the medical profession as they seek to design the Healthcare facilities of the future.

 

Enhanced patient centered care delivery which engages patients, families, and staff to improve healthcare in our communities, is a multipronged design activity which also requires understanding the social agents of health. As the dynamics of healthcare change surrounds us, the sociological understanding of healthcare delivery is imperative to provide the appropriate medical professional with the proper medical facility in the correct location along with access to the proper equipment and treatment tools.

 

Tom Brokaw’s greatest generation revered the word of physicians. The baby boomers embrace consumerism and want their healthcare provided in a “concierge floor” manner. Millennials take individuality to its highest level as they download a medical app, blog their symptoms to get peer feedback, watch TV to see all the latest drugs that are being sold to them (bypassing physicians), and come to the physician’s office with diagnosis in hand looking for agreement in their research and treatment.

 

A Millennial (who hasn’t quite discovered that they are mortal) is expecting a “medical experience” in a stimulating tech setting, not a trip to the doctor or hospital. Who among us hasn’t heard of a patient disagreeing with a physician’s diagnosis or treatment protocol and, google search in hand, looks elsewhere or prepares their own treatment plan. Convincing a Millennial that practical, hands-on experience is as important as a computer search is a tough obstacle to overcome. Watching the Olympics, how many people are now approaching their healthcare provider wanting to know why “cupping” wasn’t offered up to solve their medical problem?

 

The above describes only some of the social diversity of our population. In addition to wellness planning and medical business model restraint, how will a design professional design healthcare facilities for the future? Architects are trained as problem solvers by documenting needs, technical parameters, services provided; and along with societal comprehension, architects will lead the design of new and different healthcare facilities. We will design for relationships as well as medical treatment.

 

Key elements of clinical integration, EMRs, and the interactive, multi-tiered coordination of patient care will call for generically designed spaces adaptable for different procedures. “Plug and Play” healthcare equipment along with chips, sensors and wearable devices will provide a complete picture of healthcare needs and a multidisciplinary medical response. Healthcare Facilities of the future will ultimately be where medical, education, and industry co-exist.

 

Now, if we could only get Millennials to participate in insurance coverage, the financial aspect of healthcare will be in place to pay for the change. Insurance is transitioning from employer provided to individually obtained, and the importance of medical coverage at a young age is an important component of the public’s medical education.

 

For the next few decades Healthcare will not be a profession for the faint of heart. However, medical leaders can learn from the Googles, Amazons, and Apples about the ability to create and design for change, successfully and profitably being integrated into our lives.