Understanding The Future of Facility Lighting Systems Imagine lights being used for more than simply illumination—used to track orders in a warehouse, send coupon codes to passersby, or automatically change to match a guest’s favorite color when they enter a room. With the evolution of lighting controls, these concepts are becoming realities. Smart lighting is […]
Every year, when Health Facilities Management and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering of the American Hospital Association release their Hospital Construction Survey results, I am always intrigued about what it will reveal. The 2017 report is out, and I’m happy to see the connection between designing healthcare facilities and the clinical workflow highlighted. Hospitals […]
I recently had the opportunity to visit Iceland with my Graduate Nursing Program as part of a Global Healthcare class. With my head down working on healthcare design projects across the country, it is easy to get tunnel vision and forget about the bigger picture. But I was reminded when I found this: according to […]
Many people consider it ironic that a nurse works at an engineering firm. The experience has turned out to be quite serendipitous for me. The growing role of the executive nurse as a true partner in healthcare strategy requires systems thinking and an engineering-based approach. During a keynote address, BYU professor Margaret J. Wheatley Ed. […]
As the landscape in healthcare is continually changing, increasing pressures for hospitals to perform leaner is becoming commonplace. By definition, lean thinking is the concept of finding value and eliminating waste in a process. Waste is anything that does not bring value to your “customer” or the end recipient of your service. Lean comes from […]
The clinical voice is sometimes overshadowed by other “voices” that are slowly making an entry into clinical processes. I was struck recently by the fact that electronic health records dictated the workflow in one recent incident. In another situation a patient education/entertainment system was a driving force in workflow. Creating an organizational structure to accommodate […]
Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in 2010, there have been continuing transformations in hospital financial, technological, and clinical practices. These transformations have in some cases led to the establishment of competing priorities for hospital decision makers. Two of the biggest issues facing hospitals that cross financial, technological, and clinical lines […]
Why does it have to be so hard…integrating devices to give clinicians the information they need to deliver optimum care? How many times do I have to sit in meetings and hear, “We don’t integrate with that company?” Enough is enough! As a nurse, I am beginning to see this impact the delivery of care at […]
Resources for information on Ebola Preparedness The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Ebola to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on August 8, 2014. This extraordinary event has created worldwide awareness and panic of the threat of such an epidemic. Generations of the past have been touched by such epidemics as yellow […]
The healthcare landscape is changing so fast that it is difficult to keep up or predict the future. What does the future hold for the delivery of healthcare? How will future practitioners innovate? It is safe to say, however, that the future of healthcare will be more about value than about volume. The healthcare continuum […]
