Prevailing Trends

• Increase in volumes of outpatient care and decrease of in-patient volumes
• Reserving hospitals for catering to needs of mostly acute-care patients
• Distantly monitoring less critical patients or those with lifetime chronic ailments with healthcare sensors, wearable diagnostic devices and telemedicine
• Increasing rise of consumerism and requirement of retail clinics
• Redesigning and aligning the care process proactively for enhancing patient experience and delight
• Ensuring extensive collaboration and co-ordination between all healthcare stakeholders to improve standards

Factors determining Futuristic Hospital Architecture

• Flexibility and scalability of medical processes, devices and hospital areas is crucial. Substantial investments have been made already and scope for renovation is limited. Making treatment rooms and structural systems adaptable to technology, mechanical systems fool-proof from security threats, data systems scalable and individual spaces   multi-functional are some such measures.
• Promoting technology driven design wherein role of system integration and information technology cannot be undermined. The entire hospital building must be capable of handling ‘plug and play’ integration.
• Design will play a significant role since today’s patients consciously make informed healthcare decisions. So it is important to balance financial constraints with elements of choice and involve hospital staff in designing. Hospitals must deliver noticeable services that cater to human needs in quality environments. This ensures patient satisfaction and medical staff retention.
• Enabling higher precision in levels of care as hospitalized patients will need greater support systems. Hospital design must be adaptable to handle this transformation with outpatient clinics needing greater efficiency and streamlining for handling significant volumes and inpatient zones needing higher acuity levels for treating critical patients.
• Equipping outpatient spaces for higher efficiency as major population chooses to live in healthier environments minimizing frequent hospital visits. The business model should support better improvements in patient reception and tracking, telehealth facilities   and technology- enabled ambulatory services.
• Ensuring hospital facility repurposing is important for seamless integration with technology modifications and information technology advancements. This reduces financial commitments and fosters reusability of viable facilities.

Some Patient Friendly Measures

• Amiable ambience with pleasant colours, lighting and round consultation tables
• Online access to patient health records and live medical chats
• Special lighting effects, decorations and playful toys in kid treatment zones for distraction
• Spacious therapy rooms and lively corridors for socialisation of caretakers with physicians
• Comfortable patient-seats for better mobility and reduced bed-confinement
• Greener environments for quick healing
• Minimal waiting times by cognitive computers
• Hi-tech devices for entertainment and patient education
• Usage of robotics for performing repetitive tasks

• Currently, Healthcare Delivery Model calls for sustainability and ability to bridge the gap between cost and quality
• Healthcare now  emphasizes on ‘service for value’ not  ‘service for volumes’
• Performance evaluation in healthcare is  done on  multiple parameters – cost control, quality, patient safety and satisfaction
• Reimbursements  may be assessed on multi-domains –clinical, service, outcomes and efficiency measures
• Value based purchasing replaces fee-for service model
• Regional Macroeconomics  demands better planning
• Increased numbers of aging population calls for critical and ambulatory care services
• Increased healthcare resource costs
• Pervasive technology
• Necessity of huge capital investments for information technology and networking, program development and hospital  staff recruitment

• In-Patient Care
• Ambulatory Care
• Diagnostic and Treatment Functions
• Support Services
• Public Utility Spaces

• Improving Patient Experience and Outcomes and enhancing operational efficiencies by re-modelling patient flows appropriately
• Integration of Information Technology/ Networking to every possible patient contact point to promote faster and error-free transmission of digital information
• Providing interactive systems such as electronic kiosks, computerized direction systems and modular planning to improve patient accessibility
• Ability to deal with flexibility and change periodically and consistently
• Usage of systematic approach and interior design standards
• Capability of quicker response to new service requirements which is crucial for remaining competitive
• Scaling up facility to meet new technology developments and standards
• Need for Bold Master Plans for right sizing facilities and revamping healthcare delivery
• High productivity resource allocation for surgeries including pre-operative units for ambulatory patients, multi-speciality operation theatres and facilities for Minimal Invasive Techniques(MIT) and Telemedicine
• Catering to Emergency Medicine Volumes with new Patient-Care Delivery Models

• Patient centric service
• Operational Efficiency and enhanced Patient Safety
• Flexibility for expansion
• Capability to handle technology advancements
• Sustainable design for meeting high occupancy needs and round the clock patient care
• Promotes patient- friendly healing environment with art and hospitality