<img src="https://secure.insightful-cloud-365.com/264240.png" style="display:none;">
The HEPACART Blog

Big Data’s Impact on the Future of Healthcare Design

When we think about healthcare design, we may think about the pale green color of scrubs, gleaming tile floors, or even the antiseptic smell that makes some stomachs churn. But what we do not often consider is data.

The rise of big data has meant that healthcare facilities are now able to track and measure a huge range of design elements that impact patient experience, from anteroom placement to tile color, and even air quality and scents. Big data is changing the way that hospitals are built -- or renovated -- from the ground up.

What Gets Measured Gets Managed

Virtually every aspect of healthcare is tied to outcomes. In pharmaceuticals, for instance, new drugs must undergo rigorous tests and amass mountains of data to show that they treat what they are designed to treat and that they are safe. It is because of scientific data that doctors can feel confident in their choices to prescribe certain medications.

In a healthcare facility, data is just as important, but we are only just beginning to uncover the power of data in the area of healthcare design. One popular quote in the area of business management that can apply here is “ What gets measured gets managed.” If a healthcare facility wants to improve outcomes, buoy patient experience, or save money, that facility needs to track and measure its current setup and identify areas that can support improvement. Some of the particular pieces of data that hospitals can and should measure include patient wait times, the physical flow of people through the facility, and even the impact of different types of design changes on direct patient outcomes. By implementing these types of measurements, hospitals can manage the aspects of their design that impact these measurements and make necessary improvements.

How Data Can Influence Reimbursement Rates

Ultimately, hospitals and other healthcare facilities aim to be efficient. When a facility shows improvement in a specific area that correlates with stated goals, reimbursement rates will increase. Hospitals are implementing data-based changes to attain better reimbursement rates.

For example, some simple design changes may be able to minimize patient wait time. When patient waits are shorter, not only are they more satisfied with their healthcare experience, the hospital is acting more efficiently and maximizing productivity. These kinds of data-based design options represent win-win optimizations because both patients and facilities have improved outcomes.

Data Can Support Design Intuition

Big data does not take the place of highly skilled healthcare facility designers. Rather, the ability of facilities to collect data can serve to support design choices. Whereas designers might know that a particular choice will make a space bigger, brighter, and more comfortable, when they can point to data that says comfortable patients have better outcomes, it is easier to justify those changes to administrators. Data can support design choices because it speaks the “bottom line” language of many hospital administrators.

Big data is seemingly infiltrating so many different aspects of our lives. When advertisers know our birthday, it can be disconcerting, but when healthcare facilities know how to improve to maximize efficiency and keep patients healthier, data can be an invaluable tool.

To learn more about healthcare facilities and trends, download our presentation below. 

New Call-to-action

Download our pricing guide