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How is the physical hospital setting affecting patient care? To combat an increase in hospital-acquired infections (HAI), health systems are focusing on how their facilities are designed and managed, according to a new report from JLL.
With scorecards such as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (HCAHPS) making patient perceptions more visible than ever, hospitals can improve their quality initiatives through placemaking and maintaining aesthetics.
“The design and management of facilities has a direct impact on broader organizational efforts to improve patient experience and outcomes while managing the cost of care,” says George Mills, director of healthcare technical operations at JLL. “A hospital can employ the best medical staff around, but that can be overshadowed when patients come in to find paint chipping off the wall or a leaky pipe in the bathroom; it sends a certain message about the administration’s attention to detail.”
Aesthetics are often a low priority in the grand scheme of hospital issues, but JLL’s Placemaking and facilities: A key to patient satisfaction reveals how every design and maintenance detail—from ventilation systems to room fixtures—plays a role in reducing infections and ensuring patient safety. Healthcare organizations that assess and budget for regular interior improvements can dramatically impact the safety and satisfaction of both patients and staff.
“Viewing the physical condition of facilities through a broader lens can help put issues in the right context for leadership,” Mills says. “The key question is, ‘Do our facilities create a culture of quality and safety?’ It’s critical for hospitals to centralize facility management and maintenance issues in order to prioritize risks appropriately and proactively address them.”
Automating facility management systems and creating a central documentation repository give the management team a more active role in responding to critical facilities-related issues and improving the patient experience. With automation and leading best practices, compliance can become a built-in part of the facility management process, ensuring a safe and positive patient experience.
“When you automate compliance and reporting processes, both management and facility teams can focus on the big issues and ensure efforts are strategically aligned with broader organizational goals,” says Peter Bulgarelli, executive managing director of JLL’s Healthcare group. “A centralized system can bring greater rigor and speed to how organizations approach facility problems.”
For more insights on how facilities affect the patient experience, download JLL’s new report: Placemaking and facilities: A key to patient satisfaction.
To learn about the impact geography has on outpatient renovation costs, download JLL’s 2017 Outpatient Renovation Cost Guide.
