Developing Key Facility Design Performance Metrics Essay Sample

Introduction

There has been increasing attention to the architectural design of healthcare facilities including the equipments and technologies used and their effects on patients’ safety as well as health. Thus, addressing fundamental issues in healthcare efficiency and enhancing safe care requires aligning healthcare process, physical environment, and culture. That provides an opportunity for using evidence-based facility designs guided by various aspects including design tools, principles, and policies. (Douglas & Douglas, 2004) Those aspects can be applied in developing healthcare facilities design performance metrics as explained in the following discussion.

Discussion

The efforts to enhance staff and patients outcomes can target the environment and conditions for the hospital staff by use of evidence-based design. The design in line with the design tools, principles and policies can decrease distractions while standardizing equipments locations and supplies as well as ensuring adequate space for staff and necessary systems. (Knutt, 2005) The design tools and policies by ASHE have three articles that provide guides on importance of protecting the health. The articles include the statement that design should protect the health of building occupants and protect the health of surrounding communities. In addition, facility designs should protect the health of the global community and the natural resources. (Brown & Gallant, 2006)
That has been through consideration of the key elements in moving building of healthcare facilities towards green building. That establishes key aspects of performance measures hence can be applied to develop suitable performance metrics. (Reiling, Hughes & Murphy, 2008) The LEED tool is customized for designing green buildings and resulted in the development of the Eco-Toolkit by Kaiser Permanente that was an inclusion of the tool and the ASHE statement. The tool’s key focus was the principle of precaution. (Guenther & Vittori, 2008) Thus, the principles and the tools are crucial in determining various aspects including material selection, design features, mechanism systems, operations, maintenance practices and infrastructure. (Douglas & Douglas, 2004)
In that respect, the design tools, principles, and policies focus on functionality of the facilities are useful in designing performance metrics such as measure of the facility and equipments accessibility and efficiency. Other metrics include the staff and patients’ safety within the buildings. (Guenther & Vittori, 2008) Further, the guidelines focus on outcomes are crucial to setting the costs expectations and limits for the facilities hence ability to measure their efficiency in terms of cost minimization and reduction of the facility’s negative impact on the surrounding and global communities in terms of emission and waste management. (Knutt, 2005)

Conclusion

In view of the discussion, the ASHE statement, LEED tool, and the Eco-toolkit have various guidelines that can be applied in developing crucial performance metrics for healthcare facility design performance metrics. Thus, the guidelines focusing on prevention principle as well as occupants safety, building effectiveness and efficiency are key to developing metrics. The metrics include patients and staff safety, building and systems’ access and efficiency in terms of enhancing patients treatment and cost management.

References

Brown K. & Gallant, D. (2006). Impacting patient outcomes through design: acuity
Adaptable care/universal room design. Critical Care Nurses Q. 29(4), 326–41.
Douglas, H. & Douglas, R. (2004). Patient-friendly hospital environments: exploring the
Patients’ perspective. Health Expect. 7, 61-78.
Guenther, R. & Vittori, G. (2008). Sustainable Healthcare Architecture. New Jersey: Wiley.
Knutt, E. (2005). Healthcare design: Build for the future. Health Service Journal. 115(5940),
35–7.
Reiling, J., Hughes, G. & Murphy, M. (2008). Patient Safety and Quality: Evidence-
Based Handbook for Nurses. Rockville: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.