Designing collaborative care facilities

According to a report from the American Hospital Association, team-based care delivery models lead to improved patient safety and fewer medical errors. The report, “Connecting the Dots Along the Care Continuum,” states that “Supporting innovative, ‘model’ interprofessional practice sites in community-based settings will drive current and future workforce role transformations and the delivery of care toward achieving the Triple Aim.”

While several health care groups have created formal models to adopt a collaborative care approach, such as accountable care organizations, there are subtler design tactics that can help spur collaboration among medical staff, as well.

Presence Center for Advanced Care, Chicago, brought several clinical services under one roof with the goal of fostering “multidisciplinary, collaborative care to enhance outcomes and the patient experience,” says Roberta Luskin-Hawk, M.D., regional president and CEO, Presence Saint Joseph Hospital and Presence Saint Francis Hospital.

MedStar took a similar approach at its new Chevy Chase, Md., location and designed a flexible facility to match its adaptable integrated care model. The health system emphasizes a holistic team approach that could include any combination of neurologists, neurosurgeons, physical therapists, nurses, dietitians and more.

Jocelyn Stroupe, CHID, EDAC, IIDA, ASID, principal at CannonDesign, says there is an increased focus on how the physical environment can help to drive down costs, and designing facilities that foster team-based care is one of several ways to do that. One example Stroupe gives is having a collaboration space in the middle of each clinic that can be used by care and research teams, rather than dedicated, single-office spaces.

“For some time, workplace typologies in corporate environments have utilized strategies to support a mobile workforce and collaborative work environments while maximizing the use of technology,” Stroupe says. “These workplace design strategies are now taking hold in health care.”