Embracing new patient technology

Designers spend time reviewing the health benefits of daylight improving patient outcomes and handrails to prevent falls, but technology is pushed off to be addressed only by the health care organization's information technology and biomedical departments. Designs for medical office buildings and hospitals must address the positive disrupters technology can bring, including patient safety, improved outcomes and the overall return on investment. Virtual care, building systems integrations, infection control dashboards, predictive analytics, remote monitoring, mobile health care units, wearable technologies, predictive fall prevention systems and real-time location system (RTLS) workflow solutions often are overlooked or eliminated from design as too costly or futuristic. [...]nurse call integration with medical equipment alarm management to caregivers' wireless telephone devices can provide quicker response times, avoiding adverse events.