Enhancing Healthcare Environments Through Digital And Human-centric Innovations

Chris Cooper (credit: Courtesy of Arcadis)

The progress and integration of digital healthcare, focused on technology solutions including telemedicine and artificial intelligence (AI), will play a big part in the evolution of healthcare design. Amid this transformation, an emphasis is also being placed on human-centered design, an approach that places patients and healthcare staff at the core of architectural and operational design.

These two trends may seem at odds with each other, but if digital healthcare and human-centered design can successfully converge, they can become a powerful force, driving an evolution in healthcare design that is both technologically robust and focused on enhancing the care experience.

Digital healthcare tools 

Digital healthcare tools, including patient-centric wearables, fleets of autonomous mobile robots navigating the floors of healthcare campuses, and AI-enabled chatbots, are introducing innovative elements to healthcare environments. Each technology has the potential to significantly impact the design, utilization, and evolution of healthcare spaces.

For example, telemedicine propels a model of care that extends beyond the physical boundaries of healthcare facilities. This decentralization demands a rethinking of patient areas to accommodate technology-enabled remote monitoring.

Virtual care platforms, for example, require designated areas within healthcare facilities for remote consultations. Meanwhile, automation that streamlines supply chain logistics may mean less physical space is required for processing supplies, enabling the reallocation of space to better serve patient needs.

Employing human-centered design

The essence of human-centered design resides in crafting environments that prioritize human needs, experiences, and behaviors. In the realm of digital healthcare, this ethos manifests in the intentional incorporation of these principles during the development of digital healthcare tools or as a  byproduct of implementing digital solutions in the healthcare environment.

For example, the integration of digital wayfinding solutions not only simplifies navigation but can also minimize the anxiety associated with traversing complex healthcare facilities.

Additionally, intelligent building controls and other digital tools that influence the built environment can be leveraged to create spaces that dynamically respond to human needs.

Heating and ventilation systems and circadian lighting that adapt automatically to occupancy and user preferences can enhance the comfort and wellbeing of occupants, aligning with the aim of creating responsive and user-friendly spaces.

Future collaboration

Deploying digital technology to tackle specific operational or clinical challenges, including managing patient flow throughout a facility, often yields efficiencies that liberate physical space, time, or resources.

Consider a scenario in which a healthcare facility adopts a fully digitized appointment, check-in, and virtual waiting room platform. This system streamlines the scheduling process, optimizes the utilization of consultation rooms, significantly enhances patient flow, and minimizes on-site wait times.

Moreover, it introduces a “wait anywhere” approach, where patients are not confined to traditional waiting areas but have the freedom to use nearby facilities or outdoor spaces. They are notified via mobile alerts when it is their turn to be seen and guided back to the facility in time for their appointment. This set up redefines the conventional need for physical waiting areas.

Guided by the principles of human-centered design, this newfound spatial freedom presents exciting opportunities. What was once a crowded waiting area can now be repurposed into a range of beneficial spaces, such as a relaxation zone, educational center to host health workshops, or additional consultation rooms to expedite patient care.

This narrative exemplifies the evolutionary journey initiated by the integration of digital healthcare tools to solve immediate operational challenges and leading to opportunities for embedding human-centered design principles within healthcare spaces.

The path forward beckons healthcare organizations to prioritize the infusion of digital innovations in their design blueprints as well as enhanced collaboration among robust project teams that involve technologists, architects, clinicians, and patients.

Con McGarry is senior consultant of digital healthcare at Arcadis (London) and can be reached at [email protected].