Hospital of the (Near) Future

Every aspect of the building will be designed for the patient 

Who hasn't had a poor experience because of a bad hospital room? Who hasn't gotten lost in a maze of elevators, corridors, and waiting areas? Why is the cafeteria so hard to get to in many hospitals? Most antiquated hospital designs don't work for the patient or their visitors.

The typical hospital room, with its beige walls and stingy windows, carries a dim, funereal cast and works against patient well-being. The standard twin-bedded configuration doesn't help, fostering the spread of infection, making sleep difficult, and giving people at their sickest the dignity of life in a freshman dorm.

The latest issue of Fast Company magazine covers an emerging movement for modern, well-designed hospitals that cater to the patient, not just the doctors and nurses who pop in for a few minutes at a time. Administrators used to think cramming more patients in the same space was good for the bottom line. Maybe it was back then. Nobody likes to share a room with other patients when they are sick and uncomfortable, and patients have more choices for healthcare than they did in the past.

The new look hospitals will be a godsend to patients. All patients will have their own room, with large windows and comfortable beds. The rooms will be tech-savvy with a media wall, hi-speed WiFi and other modern technologies. Video chats can replace phone calls between patients and family or friends. Bathrooms will be spacious and accommodating - in contrast, many old hospital bathrooms aren't even large enough for a walker. In the new designs, nurses will have better line-of-sight angles to monitor their patients.

Single rooms for every patient - well appointed

Slanted rooms give patients views of the outside and of the media wall

What's changed to allow the design of a hospital to be more patient-friendly? The fee-for-service model is moving toward a flat fee for an entire episode of care, such as a hip replacement or a heart procedure. This will help eliminate over-billing for many things, such as the $150 Tylenol pill.

These changes are already in the works in some places, but the overall hospital system won't change overnight. While some new hospitals are utilizing these new designs, it will take decades to revamp or rebuild a majority of the 5,800 hospitals in the U.S. The best of the new hospitals will be built from the ground up, rather than retooling existing buildings.

Better hospitals will improve the level of care we can provide. This is exactly the kind of innovation we need.