Today’s buildings are often more bizarre versions of the architectural models of the 1960s with a lot of technological equipment that was simply shoved inside.
In an environment consisting of several wards or separate units, the patient is moved from one place to another to provide care, instead of providing the full range of care in one place.
When designing, architects and designers focus on patients and health conditions, but it often happens that the newly built environment is not patient-oriented.
Technology is an area where patients’ attention is often forgotten. Designers spend time analysing the health benefits of daylight, improving treatment outcomes for patients and installing handrails that prevent falls, but “technology” is based on the fact that they are dealt with only by the departments of information technology and biomedicine.
The use of “technology” as a key element by the hospital consulting firms in India significantly improve building design and patient treatment outcomes. Architects and designers can really save lives by changing their vision of design technology.
Modern people are getting more and more susceptible to illness, because the improvement of the living environment “smudges” people’s physique and reduces exercise, and the good temperature and humidity environment of the workplace and living environment provides a “greenhouse environment” for people.
Limited budgets, complex health structures, rapid advances in medical technology, increasing demands on economic efficiency, competitive situations and patient-oriented care are the parameters by which a modern hospital must be measured.
Thinking outside the traditions
The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged the community of healthcare designers to think beyond traditional design. In one year, the pandemic forced the use of new technologies and accelerated their implementation, which could take a normal period of five years or more.
Hospital consulting companies in India approve the rapid adaptation of the industry and the improvement of processes, and this will not be stopped.
Medical office and hospital projects should take into account the positive factors that the latest technologies can bring, including patient safety, improved treatment outcomes and overall return on investment.
Virtual care, building systems integration, infection control dashboards, predictive analytics, remote monitoring, mobile medical facilities, technology carriers, fall warning systems and real-time location solutions (RTLS) solutions are often overlooked or excluded from design as too expensive or futuristic.
Helping organizations incorporate them into the design process improves results by taking into account the proper clinical workflow, real infrastructure needs, and space requirements that are not taken into account.
Familiarity of medical organizations with current trends and opportunities helps them to think not only about how they provide care, by making informed decisions and comprehensive developments.
Technological strategies
It is believed that “form follows function.” This design philosophy is applicable to the technologies that underlie healthcare today.
Often, designers in the field of health care try to change the technology, rather than accept it as it is, so it is necessary to introduce a new approach, and consider the following areas.
Evaluation of existing technologies for additional security features. Healthcare facilities often have pre-installed technologies with capabilities that can be configured to maintain patient safety and safety protocols. Nurse calls, cordless phones, physiological monitoring, electronic medical records and equipment tracking systems are just some of them.
For example, integrating a nurse call system with medical equipment alarm control on caregivers’ cordless telephone devices can provide faster response times and avoid adverse events.