Cutting Edge Technology and Modern Hospital Rooms

The Five-Year Plan

Hospitals in the US have put a five-year plan into place, involving key improvements of aspects of hospital design. Most of these efforts revolve around improving patient care and experience, ensuring that their stay there will be more peaceful and their recovery will be faster.

Hospitals plan on:

• Reducing Carbon footprint
• Improving infrastructure to create more room
• Implementing Daylight and advanced lighting control systems
• Improving Mobile and cable networks

Hospitals in the US also plan to facilitate design interventions both to reduce the number of patient falls and to make it easier for people in hospital to get from A to B. If patients are able to get up and walk around rather than feeling confined, their mental health will not be adversely impacted.

Other planned improvements involve sanitation. Hospitals are going to provide more places where people can sanitize their hands and use antimicrobial work surfaces. This should reduce the number of patients that become ill because of staphylococcal infections or other complications.

All of these planned improvements will be completed using modular construction. Pre-fabricated buildings are cheaper and more convenient to construct. Using this method will save hospitals both time and money.

The Goal of the Improvements

All of these planned improvements have three main goals. Improving the general hygiene and sanitation standards of hospitals is an important objective at present. That’s because staph infection is now a major problem in hospitals in the developed world. It is a problem that really must be tackled effectively in order for patients to feel comfortable about the concept of a potential hospital stay.

The improvements are also intended to positively influence overall patient satisfaction. Hospitals provide a service, and patients are customers and customers have a choice regarding which establishment they choose for service. They are far more likely to use the same hospital in the future if their last stay was sufficiently comfortable and hassle-free.

Hospitals also hope to shorten patient recovery time by adding these new improvements. The less time a patient has to spend in a hospital, the better. Shorter stays and quicker recovery also frees up hospital beds for new patients.

Hospitals with a Concrete Plan

Some hospitals already know what improvements they are going to make to their hospital rooms. The Methodist Richmond Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, is designing rooms that will have single occupancy so patients won’t be kept awake by other people snoring.

They will also facilitate three separate zones for nursing care, patient care, and family care. The nursing care zone will help nurses and medical staff to administer medication more effectively. The patient care zone will ensure that patients are comfortable and able to move around the room freely without impediment. The family care zone will ensure that patients can have visitors, and that those who visit them are comfortable.

The Virtua Vorhees hospital in New Jersey will also have single occupancy rooms. They will add wall-to-wall windows so that rooms have plenty of light, improving the mood of patients who are being treated. They will also create family zones that facilitate overnight stays, which are ideal for people who have a child or an older relative that requires hospital treatment.

They also plan on making the building energy efficient to LEED specifications. This will save the hospital a great deal of money, and reduce its carbon emissions significantly.

The Benjamin Russel Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, is planning major improvements too. They will build single occupancy rooms with more windows to let in natural light helping their young patients feel more cheerful and comfortable. Patients will also have access to education and entertainment systems so children staying at the hospital will not get bored or suffer from learning gaps because of having to take time off school. Benjamin Russel Children’s Hospital will also improve its energy efficiency up to LEED gold standard, and have three zones for care.

Most Hospitals Are Planning To Improve

The three aforementioned hospitals are by no means the only medical institutions in the United States that are planning major improvements. Almost seventy percent of hospitals are planning the design of single occupancy rooms for increased privacy. Sixty percent of US hospitals will have rooms especially for visitors to make them more comfortable while visiting, resulting in more visitors for patients. Another sixty percent will provide lifts for patients so that they are not confined to one part of the hospital. Being able to get up and walk around improves mental well-being and aids recovery. Sixty percent of hospitals will use noise-reducing materials for construction, so patients could get the quality rest they need for their recovery.

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