Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1062971
Technology, Compassion Inform Facilities Planning T E L E H E A L T H A N D A N e m p h a s i s o n high-touch care are driving healthcare organizations to rethink facilities planning, according to Jeff Land, Senior Vice President of Corporate Real Estate at San Francisco- based Dignity Health. For example, clinicians can leverage telemedicine to monitor patients' conditions and connect them to specialists remotely, Land notes in a blog post for infl uence group, an organization that arranges business-to- business leadership forums. That reduces patient visits to medical office buildings, affecting how and where facilities are built. This effect seems poised to grow: The worldwide telehealth market may reach $113.1 billion by 2025, Grand View Research Inc. estimates. Responding to the need for sensitively crafted environments has also proved ben- efi cial at Dignity Health, Land adds. "Everything from creating and installing positive distractions — such as wellness walls and artwork — to improving our app-based way-finding and communications tools is designed to serve this goal," he writes. "Today, the new colors, patient fl ow and space designs all support a calmer, more patient-focused physical environment for the compassionate delivery of care." n — Steve Barrett Tapping Hospital Real Estate Administrators' Insights T H E C L INI C A L B AC KG R O U N D S of some hospital leaders and the property management and related focus of hospitals' real estate administrators can pose challenges in forming a cohesive corporate strategy, according to Jay Johnson, Managing Director of Healthcare Advisory Services at Houston-based real estate fi rm TransWestern. The implications of this possible disconnect are serious: Just 34 U.S. health systems own well over $200 billion in real estate. However, real estate administrators can offer insights that both save money and promote care by optimizing use of a hospital's or healthcare system's facilities, Johnson explains in a commentary on GlobeSt.com, a website covering commercial real estate news. "For example, tracking may reveal that a fully occupied clinic has half as many physicians per square foot as other assets in the portfolio," he writes. "This hidden vacancy is an opportunity to add doctors — and business — without the expense of acquiring new space or disposing of costly excess space." n — Steve Barrett Survey: Disaster Resistance a Priority in Hospital Design E N H A N C I N G T H E A B I L I T Y of facilities to withstand earthquakes, fl oods, fi res or other disasters caused by nature or humans is a signifi cant factor in hospitals' design strategy, a recent survey concludes. Garnering input from nearly 300 facilities professionals at hospitals nationwide, the 2018 Hospital Construction Survey by Health Facilities Management magazine found that resiliency is a consideration in design and construction for nine out of 10. Their concern is scarcely academic. As two examples, in 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused more than $3 billion in damage to medical facilities in New York state, and 2001's Tropical Storm Allison caused millions of dollars in damage to Texas Medical Center in Houston. The survey found that power outages, fi res and winter storms topped respondents' priorities with regard to resilient design. n — Steve Barrett M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C l E V E l A N D /A K R O N / C A N T O N ■ N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 018 1 9