Inclusivity and Cultural Competency in Hospital Accreditation: A Path to Quality Care

“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” – Verna Myers

The healthcare landscape is increasingly diverse. Patients and healthcare professionals come from a multitude of cultural backgrounds, speaking different languages, holding unique beliefs, and bringing distinct life experiences. However, ensuring that every individual receives equitable, high-quality healthcare remains a significant challenge.

The statistics are telling: a study published in the National Library of Medicine revealed that ethnic and racial disparities in healthcare access and outcomes persist. Bridging this gap requires an unwavering commitment to inclusivity and cultural competency. And as hospitals strive for excellence, the importance of these factors in accreditation cannot be overstated.

Importance of Inclusivity: Beyond Tolerance

Inclusivity goes beyond mere tolerance of differences. It is the active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity. In a healthcare context, it means creating an environment where every patient, regardless of their background, feels welcomed, respected, and heard. This is not just a matter of ethics; it’s a fundamental component of providing quality care.

Cultural Competency in Healthcare: The Need for Understanding

Cultural competency is the ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across various cultures. In healthcare, it translates into healthcare providers and a system having the capacity to serve patients in a manner that respects their cultural values and beliefs, meets their social and linguistic needs, and does so in a way that ensures their understanding.

The Link between Inclusivity and Quality Care:

A body of evidence demonstrates the link between inclusivity and the delivery of quality care. When healthcare providers embrace inclusivity and cultural competency, patients benefit in several ways:

Enhanced Communication: Effective communication is the cornerstone of healthcare. Patients who feel understood and respected by their healthcare providers are more likely to share critical health information and follow through with treatment plans.

Improved Health Outcomes: Inclusivity is associated with better health outcomes. Patients who receive care that aligns with their cultural beliefs are more likely to adhere to treatment regimens and experience improved health.

Reduced Disparities: Cultural competency efforts help reduce disparities in healthcare access and outcomes, thus addressing the persistent issue of unequal care.

Accreditation Success Stories: A Glimpse into Change

Global accreditation bodies have embraced inclusivity and cultural competency as fundamental elements in healthcare standards. This shift has prompted healthcare institutions to adopt more inclusive practices.

One of the notable success stories is the transformation of healthcare systems that have embraced inclusivity. Their journey involved training staff in cultural competency, creating materials and environments that respect diverse backgrounds, and actively seeking feedback from patients. These organizations now provide a model for others to follow.

In a groundbreaking accreditation process, several healthcare facilities committed to cultural competency and inclusivity have achieved recognition. For example, a hospital in a diverse urban area was accredited after implementing language access services, cultural sensitivity training for staff, and the establishment of a diverse patient advisory council. The result was a hospital that not only met the needs of its diverse patient population but also saw improved patient satisfaction scores and health outcomes.

In Conclusion: A Shared Responsibility

Inclusivity and cultural competency in healthcare aren’t just ethical obligations; they’re vital elements of quality care, narrowing disparities, enhancing health outcomes, and fostering environments where each patient feels valued. It’s a collective responsibility, shared from healthcare leadership to providers, to embed these values in healthcare delivery.

Astron Hospital and Healthcare Consultants stand at the forefront of this transformation, offering quality accreditation services that promote inclusivity and cultural competency. This journey is an active invitation to engage with differences, as Verna Myers suggests, weaving inclusivity and cultural competency into the fabric of accreditation. It’s a commitment to excellence, a dedication to creating equitable, high-quality care, and, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, becoming the change we wish to see in the world.

The nuances of starting up a hospital and the place of Health Care Equipment & Services in it

Everyone from time to time requires the services of medical staff or institution (hospital, clinic, pharmacy, nursing home, etc.). Many countries have larger populations than existing hospitals can handle, so most hospitals are overcrowded, and as the population grows, more hospitals are needed.

Starting your own hospital and running a capital intensive hospital requires careful Hospital Design Planning. You should also get the necessary approvals from the various regulatory agencies, the government of the country or state where you plan to open a hospital.

You also need to decide on the capacity of the hospital you want to open, whether it will be a multidisciplinary, specialist or general hospital. Here are some things to consider when starting a hospital.

Choose a place that is easily accessible to people in an emergency. The area must also have good transport and infrastructure, it must be located close to the population or the area if you want to be successful in business.

It is also worth considering the number of hospitals present in your chosen region, as you will not be able to accommodate so many clients if one hospital is too close to another.

Land for a hospital can be purchased or rented, and the hospital building must meet the standards approved by the government.

Many documents, such as property rights, architectural plans, must be approved by the relevant authorities. If you are buying land, you need to consider medical waste disposal systems, infection and disease prevention, parking lots, etc. Once you have completed all the paperwork, you will be given a certificate.

Medical equipment

Medical equipment can be expensive to buy, especially if it needs to be imported, as customs duties and taxes may apply. It should be noted that the type of hospital determines what equipment and facilities will be used. For example, an orthopedic hospital and a children’s hospital will have different medical supplies requirements.

Electricity is needed for any facility, especially a hospital, as most of the equipment is powered by electricity, so in the event of a local power outage, backup energy must be provided, which can be especially the case in developing countries. You do not want to run out of power when performing a critical procedure.

Water is also needed for the hospital to operate for different purposes. Hospital water needs need to be calculated, which can vary greatly depending on the size, capacity and requirements of the hospital, all this can be done with the help of Health Care Equipment & Services.

Wastewater and Biomedical waste

Waste disposal and drainage systems must be properly planned during the construction of hospitals. You may also need the permission of the relevant authorities to burn other medical waste. This is possible even within a low-cost hospital model.

At different stages of business development, especially at the initial stage, it is necessary to obtain different permits – licenses from state – local government councils, as well as from medical regulators – associations. This will give your hospital a legal basis for running smoothly.

Besides, you need to develop a detailed business plan and follow the many guidelines, get different certifications and approvals. It may take a lot of time and effort, but in the end it will be worth it.

Make Your Hospital Comfortable for Users by Contacting Hospital Construction Consultants

Any medical institution is a complex of various departments and services. A hospital is a ward department in which patients are supposed to stay around the clock or rest after the operation.

Hospital Construction Consultants

Throughout the entire time of stay in the hospital, regardless of its duration, as recommended by hospital construction consultants, comfortable conditions for treatment and rest should be created for the patient, both in the building itself and in the surrounding area.

Therefore, when designing, based on the intended profile, the following requirements suggested by hospital construction consultants must be taken into account:

  1. Infectious, tuberculosis, and psychiatric hospitals should be at least 100 meters away from the residential sector.
  2. In multidisciplinary institutions, infectious diseases, obstetric, children’s, psychosomatic, radiological departments, which are part of them, are located in separate buildings. For the infectious case, it is necessary to provide a separate entrance and a special area for the disinfection of vehicles.
  3. Subject to special requirements for the organization of autonomous ventilation and architectural and planning isolation from other premises, some departments can be located in the same building. Infectious, tuberculosis buildings, and psychiatric hospitals, in any case, should be located separately.

As a general rule, the below-listed departments should be distinguished from the hospital structure:

  • Medical: ward departments, operating block, departments of physiotherapy, rehabilitation treatment, etc.;
  • Diagnostic: departments of functional, radiation, laboratory diagnostics;
  • Pathological department;
  • Department of administration;
  • Auxiliary services: laundry, pharmacy, central sterilization department, catering department, waste disposal department.

The hospital as a place of health services for the general public must of course be able to provide all kinds of facilities needed by the community.

Environmentally Friendly

As a place that becomes a center for healing patients, of course, hospitals must be built with environmentally friendly characteristics.

In this case, it is intended that the hospital can be built in an order that is in accordance with urban planning. Then you also have to be kind to the surrounding environment, don’t let the hospital actually make the surrounding environment feel a loss.

The rooms in it should also have good architecture, sufficient lighting, attractive to the eye and not scary. Because the psychological condition of a patient suffering from the disease is also very important to note.

Of course you yourself will not feel happy if you have to live in a stuffy room, dark and dirty when you’re sick, isn’t it? Therefore the architecture of the hospital itself must look attractive and make anyone feel comfortable in it.

Easy Access

The characteristics of an easily accessible hospital are not only related to the community so that it is easy to reach it, but also must be easily accessible for ambulances, fire engines, public transportation, and service vehicles.

Vehicles inside the hospital, whether they belong to patients or hospital staff, must be provided with sufficient space in the parking area. In addition, the building must have different access to waste disposal as well as supply of goods. The place where garbage is dumped has germs and dirt accumulated around it, therefore a good waste disposal system must be provided at the hospital, lest the landfill is near the hospital’s supply of goods

How to Consult with a Hospital Construction Company in India?

Since the beginning, the construction process demands a robust plan and smooth communication between the related authorities. In case of hospitals, all this becomes more important as this facility needs to provide patient required care and give its owners a value they deserve. And this is why, our suggestion for all those people who want to set up or build a hospital is to contact a Hospital Construction Company in India. To help you out, in this article, we are going to give an overview of the things that should be included in a hospital construction plan.

Multidisciplinary skills are necessary for the drafting of a Hospital Design Plan, drawn up by a group of experts consisting of at least one engineer or architect, a doctor competent in hospital hygiene and technology and an expert in administration problems who will have to draw up a project, approved by the competent regional bodies for the purpose of issuing the related authorization by:

a) A technical-health report which must indicate:

  • The relationship of the hospital structure with the forecasts and indications of the regional health plan;
  • The urban planning criteria for which the area was defined with its characteristics and compliance with the indications of the current regulatory plan;
  • The use of the area and its arrangement in relation to the orientation, the morphology of the land and the existing vegetation;
  • The local environmental characteristics such as temperature, relative humidity, windiness, sunshine, etc. .;
  • The hygienic-sanitary and functional criteria that led to the drafting of the project, with particular reference to the system of horizontal and vertical paths;
  • The distribution criteria of the diagnostic, therapeutic, general services and of the complete and diurnal hospitalization areas with respect to the aggregation of the buildings;
  • The structural characteristics of the buildings and the properties of the materials used;
  • The overall accommodation capacity and of the individual hospital units in relation to the specialties to be activated;
  • The systems envisaged for the water supply, the disposal of solid and liquid waste, ventilation, heating and air conditioning, and all the technological systems to be envisaged;
  • The description of the sanitary equipment envisaged.

b) A project that must present all the graphical drawings at an adequate scale that represent all the points of the technical-health relationship.

c) A financial plan which must identify:

  • The estimated cost of the work divided into acquisition and arrangement of the area, building works, technical systems, equipment, furnishings, general expenses;
  • The forecast of the financial means to meet the overall cost of the work, as well as the methods of acquiring them.
  • The program of implementation phases and times;
  • The analysis of management costs and benefits obtained.

Following the approval of the planning program, first a preliminary project then a related executive project of all the technical drawings necessary for its complete realization is presented by the creator of Hospital Design Plan to the competent regional bodies for technical approval.

How to Design Friendly and Welcoming Hospitals?

The health emergency that came due to COVID-19 was an unpredictable event, the limited capacity of intensive care and the even more reduced availability of beds for infectious patients, even in specialized or more recent structures, made it extremely difficult to cope with the epidemic adequately, during the peak.

Whether for a new building or an existing ward: in the following sections you will find effective measures to improve the feeling of space in the hospital.

Spaces help heal.

Structures that are adapted to the patient’s perspective and the medical requirements of intensive care medicine can have a significant impact on the healing process in intensive care units.

The term ‘Healing Architecture’ aims at the connection between architecture and health in general as well as healing processes in particular and, in a broader sense, at the prevention of diseases through suitable design of internal and external spaces.

Scientists agree that the environment also has a positive effect on the healing process. There are around a thousand studies on this worldwide.

They show that patients who heal in a comfortable hospital setting require less medication. In addition, their blood pressure drops, their heart rate drops, and patients experience less stress.

If the brightness, room temperature and volume as well as colours and materials are correct, this has been proven to lead to a significantly shorter patient stay. Which means that investments for such conditions are not “only” expressed in patient satisfaction, but also in terms of money.

Hotel room-style patient rooms – the last word of wisdom?

It took a long time to gain acceptance that investments in “Healing Architecture” are worthwhile. Today, however, the topic is being taken into account more and more frequently in new hospital buildings, thanks to hospital project consultants in India.

Unfortunately, only a few architects are familiar with the subject. These currently pursue one approach in particular: the patient room designed like a hotel room.

After realizing that there are many parallels between the service in the hotel and the requirements in the hospital, the first step was to transfer the offers and the service concept of the hotel industry to the hospitals.

The conclusion: If there are so many positive parallels in service, then this certainly also applies to other areas, such as the design of the rooms.

That brings improvements: the rooms are becoming more homely. In addition to a table with chairs, there is also a small couch-seating area where patient can, for example, retreat with visitors.

The colour coordination and materiality in modern hospitals is much more pleasant than the cold white and the cheap art prints from the Internet, which can still be found in some clinics. These developments are good and correct. They don’t go far enough, however.

Inevitably, the rooms have to be furnished in such a way that they create a feel-good atmosphere for all possible preferences, tastes and styles. With white walls and prints by famous artists you can at least achieve acceptance among a relatively large part of the population, perhaps not with enthusiasm, but at least with acceptance. However, there is more you can do. And that often doesn’t have to cost a lot.

So, what’re you waiting for? Follow the experts’ advice and turn to top hospital consulting firms in India before embarking on the journey of designing a new hospital or if you want to remodel your medical centre.

Hospital Management: Examples For Better Collaboration

How to work with more people, and often more distant? How not to spend/waste time on the move? How to move forward together on documents and find them easily? How to improve hospital management. In short, how to collaborate more effectively?

In this article, we are going to provide you with some tips by top hospital consulting firms in India that can help you in managing your hospital or medical centre more efficiently and smoothly.

1. Improve the care of “staff” patients

The “staff” designates a meeting of the members of a service, or of a care unit. A daily or weekly meeting should be conducted to discuss patient cases, but also to address organizational issues.

The objective: to adopt a common position, around the most appropriate care. As the hospital is made up of several departments, a patient’s journey now concerns several establishments, several specialists, and hospital management is becoming a key issue.

The benefits of opting for such a solution are listed below:

  • Improve the treatment path
  • Improve the coordination and cooperation of health actors
  • Provide a summary for the doctor
  • Modernize work methods and techniques

Fast treatment without annoying waiting times is particularly important for patients with an inpatient hospital stay.

The patient service is one of the pillars upon on which the work of clinics and doctors’ offices is based.

We have collected some tips to help those who manage these structures improve the perceived service, using technology.

From chatbots to voice reporting, from management software to information totems and patient reminders, digitization is often an important engine for increasing the perception of quality.

Especially in post- COVID period, in which all the limitations of the healthcare sector have come to light, it is not possible to avoid the consideration that digital transformation can improve the services and performance of this crucial area.

Until now, most of the systems and technologies implemented concern the administrative area with the aim of providing patients with solutions that allow access to information related to their health.

These were weak signals without a real change of approach towards new technologies. But precisely because of the Coronavirus, this path begins to change and the need to implement new digital and technological solutions has also emerged more and more in the health sector.

2. Artificial intelligence in healthcare

An answer to the needs of patients, but also to the best management of health facilities is the best hospital consultants in India.

According to hospital consultancy firms in India, the outpatient clinic and doctor’s office that want to improve patient service could evaluate the opening of a new communication channel with their clients, exploiting the potential of virtual assistants, called chatbots, always available to give information and book appointments even on weekends and after the closing hours of the health facility, to help the secretariat, which can thus work more smoothly and without excessive interruptions.

Entrusting hospital management services to a company for healthcare outsourcing, such as Astron Healthcare, allows you to optimize time by obtaining better quality and professional services, thanks to their specialization in the sector.

TRAFFIC CONTROL IN THE HOSPITAL

Traffic means a constriction that delays the efforts ofvisitor in reaching its destination. An already vulnerable patient entering the hospital would only expect immediate care offered to him. Any delays shall only magnify theiranxiety, resulting in nightmares for the care-givers. Healthcare designers should pre-empt challenges posed by lean resources planned by stake-holders, demanding patients and longer waiting period. Every healthcare facilityhas four principal user groups – Patients, Attendants, Staff, Materials / Equipment, all having a common destination.

SEGREGATING COMMUNICATION MODE

Having identified different user groups within the hospital, it is imperative that we segregate their route of vertical communication. Priority to any user group results in delay to the other group, besides compromising their privacy. So, it is not a luxury to have multiple routes, but function warrants the same.

DEPARTMENTAL ADJACENCIES

The essence of healthcare planning lies in juxtaposing the interdependent departments in the neighborhood.This results in preventing delays to care-access by cutting the travel time. Proximity between Emergency and Radiology, TMT and Cardiologists, Sonography within Obs+Gynec department remain few yet classic examples.

DECENTRALIZING COMMON SERVICES

Multi-tasking at Patient Touch Points should ideally be avoided to ease the crowding at these nodes. Reception should only divert the Patients and Departmental Scheduling stations should register. Pharmacists should only dispense medicines whereas collecting cash should be left to the Cashiers.

ENGAGING ACTIVITIES

Doing away with congested and relatively dark waiting spaces helps maintain sanity in the waiting areas. Besides, engaging patients during their waiting period helps cut boredom and the trauma associated with it. Globally recognized concept of conducting Vital parameters prior to entering the Doctor’s clinic suggests the approaching time of meeting his doctor.

INNOVATIVE IDEAS

Healthcare industry is known to keep itself abreast with technology. This is not limited to the periodic introduction of new equipment,but even the approach to treatment has gone futuristic. Telemedicine, Tele-radiology are no longer the alien words. Infact, e-ICU is becoming increasingly popular. Doctors sitting at one location monitor patients at multiple locations, and at times, even patients at home. In either situation, the influx of human traffic within the healthcare premise remains decongested.

In a nutshell, increasing patients in a given hospital speak volumes of their success in giving care, butthrows additional challenges at the hospital administration in controlling these higher volumes. No wonder, Hospital traffic is often compared with Air traffic and the Hospital administration is known as Air Traffic Controller of the hospital.

Key Healthcare Design Strategies

Evidence-based research indicates a reduction in operating costs and a positive experience for patients and families. The combination of architectural design and clinical planning is a powerful idea that can help progress in the delivery of health services.

With it, health care providers can overcome social, economic and political barriers and come to a system that is financially stable, efficient and socially oriented.

However, in order to achieve such goals and to address the current challenges facing healthcare facilities in the 21st century, it is necessary to identify the factors that are primarily important in healthcare facilities.

Mission support

Here are some of the ways in which healthcare providers today can help implement their design ideas. In particular, when medical technologists work closely with architects and use the principles of scientifically sound design.

1. Designing medical institutions as the epicenter of medical information, minimizes the gap between training, prevention and treatment, creating effective health care systems.

Certain treatments can have side effects on the body, but are quite difficult to tolerate, affecting overall health. This factor contributes to the creation of special places where patients can get information about the process of their treatment and state of health, receive a preventive examination and possible further treatment.

This allows institutions to promptly prevent the deterioration of the patient’s health, maintain preventive measures and only if necessary to treat.

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes are the cause of most deaths in America. Worldwide, most health care costs are associated with these types of diseases.

The model of medical institutions with the use of evidence-based design can reduce long-term costs and improve the quality of life of patients, staff and visitors.

Although there are very few real examples of projects of this new philosophy, the number of health care facilities that require the application of this model is increasing.

2. A combination of design and clinical planning based on evidence to effectively modernize the institution and save money, all thanks to hospital consultancy services in India. The benefits of joint development of operational plans, functional planning and physical design of facilities should not be underestimated.

At a time when the baby boomer generation is becoming the largest demographic consumer of health services, health care providers will rapidly increase the number and list of services in various fields and environments. Since technological innovation is expensive and fast-moving, the question is, is it the best way to invest?

Designing physical spaces for future inspections and validation of evidence strengthens the value of the health care facility in the community, and reduces the risk of losing funding, no matter how fast demographics and technology change.

Reduction of long-term operational and financial inefficiencies can be achieved through a project that is evidence-based in direct collaboration with clinical planning.

During the lifetime of the emergency department, the cost of maintaining the department may be less than 7% of total costs, while the cost of operating rooms is about 93%. Not surprisingly, health care managers are looking for new and creative measures to reduce operating costs.

To get help in solving problems in your health centres, go for hospital consultancy in India.

Hospital Room Design Strategies To Increase Staff Efficiency and Effectiveness

The design of the hospital has a significant impact on patient care and recovery outcomes. Patient with extreme health condition relies on the staff to check in them frequently and ensure a full recovery. But staff can only treat the patient effectively when they have an easy excess of equipment and medical supplies. Therefore, the hospital building design and architecture is very important to improve the efficiency of work in hospitals.

How Architects Can Overcome The Challenges of Hospital Room Design

While designing the hospital room, one of the key challenge that architecture face is the need to accommodate three unique functions in the space.The room must be comfortable and calming for the patient. Second, the caregivers have the access to navigate the space quickly and efficiently. And the third and final thing is a separate area for the patient family and the visitors where they can sit or sleep comfortably without any disruption.

For a small size hospital, designing rooms could be a serious challenge because of the limited space. Another big challenge is providing clear lines of sight from the nurses’ station. Thus, to create an efficient hospital room’s design, there is a requirement of adding an extra layer of intricacy to the design process, because every patient has different needs.

Efficient Hospital Room Design 

To plan and design the most efficient hospital room design strategy, architects thoroughly research staff and patient needs in advance.With the help of Astron professionally managed consultancy you can design the hospitals and their room design efficiently. From examining hospital given data and following evidence-based design principles, Astron consultant has progressed strategies for hospital room designs that can assist staff to perform their daily tasks more smoothly while allowing for great patient and family experiences in the hospital. 

Conclusion

The environment of the hospital and its rooms should feel safe where patients feel well cared for and staff can easily assist them without any hassle. Therefore, the design detail not only enhances staff workflow but also promotes patient recovery rates and leads to higher patient comfort.As a result, this will increase patient experience which means increased revenue at your facility.

Technological Advancements: A Tool For Making A Change In Hospitals

hospital consultancy in India

The ultimate goal of hospital designers & planners is to create the best treatment environment and favourable conditions for patients.

There are many technologies available for patient safety that should be studied during the general planning, programming and design of the premises.

Each has different effects on processes, operations, medical programs, facilities, and premises planning, but they can all improve patient safety when properly implemented. For this, you can take help of hospital consultancy in India.

The design should take into account the following proposals for technological safety of patients, as well as their configuration in space and infrastructure:

Prevent the patient from falling. Solutions for “telesetting” using stationary or mobile cameras for patients have proven that they reduce the risk of falls.

In-room analytical video surveillance systems provide in-room cameras with sensors for beds, handrails and armchairs that send alerts to designated carers.

Considerations for location and infrastructure include long-term monitoring stations inside and outside the hospital, consistent with the overall concept of the health care system.

Involvement of patients. Telemedicine companies provide devices to interact with patients at home with individualized health care and drug management techniques.

It is expected that further development of these solutions and proactive applications will help maintain public health and brand commitment to hospitals. Space and infrastructure issues include connecting technological data to existing infrastructure and allocating space for further monitoring.

Active monitoring of the patient. Implanted sensors for remote monitoring provide personal health data in real time via a smartphone, creating new opportunities for monitoring health.

This innovation in the field of healthcare provide exciting health monitoring capabilities and influence the planning of a space for clinical staff to support and actively monitor patients.

Cooperation of the surgical team. 3D-printing of preoperative planning models allows all involved to work together before the premises are built, which reduces the number of errors on the site.

Although 3D printers only need jobs and work areas. Space and infrastructure considerations include an expanded surgical planning package to ensure preoperative collaboration and monitoring assessment that reflects clinical data and current patient imaging.

Virtual team care centre. The growing demand for telemedicine during the recent pandemic is staggering. New models of health care continue to evolve.

Remote monitoring with the patient’s mobile devices has also become widespread. This trend will require the creation of a virtual medical centre where physicians can remotely monitor and interact with patients.

Individual solutions will be needed that can be adapted for future growth in this area. Space and infrastructure issues will include new areas of virtual care technology, space and the building as a whole.

Infection control. All health facilities should consider reducing health-related infections with new technologies. When considering the costs of re-commissioning, these solutions usually pay off quickly.

For example, hand hygiene systems support infection control protocols and have been shown to significantly reduce infectious diseases.

To equip your medical centre or healthcare facility with all new technological devices, the best option is to go for hospital consultancy services in India, as only the experts in the field can provide the right piece of advice.