Security, infection control priorities in redesign
Eric Hess, vice president of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), provides these examples of how risk management concerns were incorporated into the hospital's recently completed $625 million redesign:
Hospital security - In any children's hospital, child-patient security is a high priority for risk managers. The risk management team of Children's Hospital worked early in the design process to ensure the architecture supported their security requirements. Throughout the building, there are five "rings" of varying security, with specific architectural distinctions and barriers. As visitors move through the hospital, they must pass through increasing levels of security and obtain proper clearance to prevent unauthorized people from gaining access to sensitive data, access to patients, and/or private areas within the facility.
Infection control and risk reduction - It is generally agreed that proper separation of materials from patients and preventing the overlapping of different patient populations can reduce infection rates. Children's Hospital worked with the design firm Astorino of Pittsburgh to develop specific architectural features to help manage internal traffic of staff, patients, and materials within the hospital. For example, inpatients and outpatients are kept on separate floors with designated elevators that do not allow overlap. Similarly, the hospital included separate elevators for soiled and clean materials to minimize patient contact with airborne contaminants. The designers also ensured a direct route from the helipad to the trauma center and to the operating center in an attempt to reduce time to treatment, helping to reduce medical risk.
Parent participation - Every effort was made to involve parents in the medical process. The new Children's Hospital has pockets of designated space for families to accompany their child through the various stages of preparation and treatment. Not only does this provide comfort for the child, but it also adds an extra set of eyes as the doctors and nurses administer medicine and provide overall care, which aims to help reduce medical error and address other safety issues.
Disaster preparedness - In response to the hospital's disaster preparedness plan, Astorino configured the building with adequate soft space for utilization in the event of a regional disaster. For example, the main lobby, transformation corridor, ambulatory court, undercover driveway and patient atrium are sized to handle caregiving stations. Additionally the trauma center can be quickly expanded to accommodate increased surges of patients.
Staff safety and comfort - Creating a comfortable environment that puts patients and staff at ease also promotes patient safety by reducing stress and errors; so, designing the care team stations also was important. The care team stations offer a spacious work desk where doctors and nurses can maintain visual control of the patients nearby, while still having privacy to conduct conversations among themselves. This open space was designed to promote a collaborative work environment where medical staff can make smooth transitions between shift changes, promotes effective handoffs to protect patient safety.
Sources
For more information on risk management and facility design, contact:
Eric Hess, Vice President, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Telephone: (412) 692-5325.
Tim Powers, Senior Vice President, Astorino, Pittsburgh. Telephone: (800) 518-0464. Web site: www.astorino.com.
Eric Hess, vice president of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), provides these examples of how risk management concerns were incorporated into the hospital's recently completed $625 million redesign:You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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