At least for the time being, it appears Healthcare Reform will be coming down the pike and facilities across the country will need to make adjustments in response to the new environment it will create.

And judging by the content of the educational sessions at HEALTHCARE DESIGN.10, as well as the turnout in those sessions, the healthcare design community recognizes what potentially is headed its way and is readying itself to react.

On Monday, Dave Ennis, senior vice president at Kaufman Hall, and Zac Hafner, vice president of Kaufman Hall, discussed the impact of reform and the implications it could potentially have on facility planning, including new focus on hospital/physician integration, information technology, and efficient use of capital.

Following on Tuesday, Virender Ahuja, AIA, principal of Axiom Design and Consulting, covered similar topic points in his session and covered the impact reform will have particularly on hospital design. This includes the creation of environments that will attract commercially insured patients and the need to develop facilities that better utilize resources. However, while Ahuja said he isn’t sold on the idea that hospitals will see an uptick in patients just because of the reform, he said facilities will nonetheless need to make adjustments for the simple fact alone that the baby boomers are aging and likely to need more care in coming years.

The topic was mentioned once again during a later Tuesday morning session “Educating the Future Client,” during which Carrie Rich, MS, EDAC, faculty/healthcare specialist at Georgetown University/Perkins + Will, discussed how designers will not only need to learn the ins and outs of reform to understand what stresses their clients are under, but also to use that knowledge in working with administrators on capital improvement plans.

Watch for future issues of
HEALTHCARE DESIGN as we, too, continue to respond to what, for now, looks to be a new reality for healthcare.