January | 2014 | Owner's Toolbox

Browsing All Posts published on »January, 2014«

Today’s Forecast: Unpredictability w/ Some Loss of Control

January 31, 2014

2014 will be remembered throughout most of the U.S. as an especially harsh winter, and we are barely halfway through. Earlier this week, I read or heard first person accounts, particularly in the South where traditional winter weather is a rare occurrence, of 20 minute commutes taking six hours, kids spending the night at their […]

Green Smarts and Your HC Landscape

January 22, 2014

Paving is bad. Turf is better. Meadow is best. This is a pithy, nine-word summary of how to sensitively approach your hospital’s landscape design according to a landscape architect I heard speak recently. I learned other interesting facts about best approaches to a hospital’s campus. For instance, the cost to maintain one acre of turf […]

Antimicrobials in HC: Synthetic vs. Natural

January 20, 2014

I will be the first to admit microbiology is not a formidable weapon in my knowledge arsenal. Although as a parent, patient, and healthcare design professional, I care to know the options available to keep surfaces germ-free. Antibacterial hand soaps have been a focus of the FDA lately due to the belief we may be […]

HC Costs Parsed: What’s Missing?, Part II

January 17, 2014

See previous post “HC Costs Parsed: What’s Missing?, Part I” 5. That leaves the last three cost drivers: “Fragmented and Uncoordinated Care”, “High Administrative Expenses” and “Unhealthy Behaviors”. Patients can only hope Un-fragmented and Coordinated Care is a fringe benefit of healthcare reform. Hospitals will need to solve that internally. And no one […]

HC Costs Parsed: What’s Missing?, Part I

January 16, 2014

Becker’s Hospital Report commented yesterday on the State Health Care Cost Containment Commission’s recent look at the “9 Drivers of Healthcare Cost in the U.S.”. A few items to note from the article: There should only be seven causes. Of the nine causes named, the last two, “Expensive End-of-life Care” and “Provider Consolidation”, should be […]

Can Hospitals Create Universal Comfort?

January 14, 2014

Last fall, I listened to the Healthcare Design Conference (HCD.13) keynote speaker, Thomas Goetz talk about “hardware vs. software”. Among many salient points, he was the latest to build on the argument that healthcare’s focus on the infrastructure to deliver care has created a barrier to the emotional well-being of the patient, which is a […]

New Outlook: How Will You Find Yours?

January 6, 2014

January 1 is just another day, for the most part. Somehow it gets weighed down more than other days with expectations we call Resolutions. I am a firm believer in resolutions though, because well, you have to choose to make a change sometime—even if the failure rate of New Year’s Resolutions is >85%, or so […]