Chance to showcase health care facility innovation still alive

Calling all health care facility pros, architects, construction companies and designers. If you’ve implemented an innovation that had a positive impact on the built environment at a hospital or health care facility, there's still time to share your success story.   

The deadline has been extended to April 15 to meet a call for abstracts on innovation in the health care facility field issued by the Institute for Healthcare Infrastructure Research (HIR), a program of the University Research Institute, Washington, D.C., and American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) of the American Hospital Association, Chicago. 

Joe M. Powell, executive director, HIR; ASHE; and HIR’s executive board, representing facility leaders from among the largest hospitals and health care systems in the U.S., are seeking abstracts on facility innovations.

“If you’ve been involved in any type of innovation that impacts the built environment for health care we want to hear about it,” Powell says. Abstracts can summarize innovation in finance, real estate, design and construction, fabrication or other areas of the built environment, he explains.

“Our industry has lots of moving parts, so the board would like to hear anybody talk about any of it,” he says.

Health facility leaders and others whose work impacts the industry — architects, construction companies and designers — are encouraged to submit a brief one-page summary of one or more innovative actions taken within the past three years. Brief biographies of key staff related to the project also are requested, Powell says.

After the deadline, the executive board will review all abstracts over a period of five months and select a limited number to be developed more fully and presented to the industry. Those chosen will be contacted for more information and to prepare a presentation. 

The plan is to publish the board’s findings on the call for abstracts at the Healthcare Design Expo + Conference Nov. 11–14 in Orlando, Fla., Powell says. ASHE and HIR will publish selected abstracts.

Among hospitals and health systems with members on the HIR executive board are the Cleveland Clinic, Veterans Administration, National Institutes of Health, Catholic Health Initiatives, Kaiser Permanente, Dignity Health and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Send abstracts via email to Powell at joe.powell@HIRinstitute.org. Companies or individuals interested in participating in the review process also can contact Powell at his email address.