ECRI Institute’s 2016 Health Technology Hazards list includes items that could be somewhat alleviated by space design.
For example, number four, “Inadequate surveillance of monitored patients in a telemetry setting,” might be improved with better positioning of staff stations relative to patient rooms to encourage more consistent monitoring. Number two, “Missed alarms,” due to so-called alarm fatigue, could likewise be remediated with optimal floor configurations.
Designers should also take other hazards on the list into account. For instance, the number one issue, “Inadequate cleaning of flexible endoscopes,” could impact the location of and number of areas dedicated to cleaning this equipment.
Other hazards include “Misuse of USB ports,” pertaining to using unauthorized devices and plugging them into USB ports on medical equipment, and “Insufficient training on operating room (OR) technologies.”
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 14, 2017
Nature as therapy
A famed rehab center is reconfigured to make room for more outdoor gardens, parks, and open space.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 13, 2017
Investors and developers are still avid for medical office buildings
A new CBRE survey finds that equity set aside for purchases continues to outshoot the availability of in-demand supply.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 13, 2017
The rise of human performance facilities
A new medical facility in Chicago focuses on sustaining its customers’ human performance.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 11, 2017
Today’s community centers offer glimpses of the healthy living centers of tomorrow
Creating healthier populations through local community health centers.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 2, 2017
Comfort and durability were central to the design and expansion of a homeless clinic in Houston
For this adaptive reuse of an old union hall, the Building Team made the best of tight quarters.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 31, 2017
The cost of activating a new facility
Understanding the costs specifically related to activation is one of the keys to successfully occupying the new space you’ve worked so hard to create.
Sponsored | Healthcare Facilities | Mar 29, 2017
Using Better Light for Better Healthcare
Proper lighting can improve staff productivity, patient healing, and the use of space in healthcare facilities
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 29, 2017
Obamacare to Republicare: Making sense of the chaos in healthcare
With a long road of political and financial uncertainty ahead for the healthcare sector, what does this mean for the nonresidential construction industry’s third-largest sector?
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 24, 2017
5 insights for designing a human-centered pediatric experience
Pediatric experience design must evolve beyond the common mantra of “make it fun” or “make it look kid-friendly.”
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 3, 2017
CBRE: Developing a total project budget for a healthcare capital project
Successfully developing a complete and well thought out Total Project Budget is perhaps the most important task you’ll perform in the initial phase of your project.