Wow, a lot going on here in Las Vegas at HCD.10. The Lean design session was the hit of the day for me on Monday–more than 200 in attendance, standing room only. The message is clear: Healthcare is not business as usual and needs every tool possible to make improvements. I hear a common message of hospitals needing to use existing resources in improved ways, and build less. The presenter issued a call to action for designers to challenge healthcare owners to push comfort zones and to get clients to think in different ways.

A design-build lab seminar hammered home a similar point: Design-build is a tremendous value option. To continue with the theme, this is yet another way to get more out of current and limited resources. It seems to be that belt-tightening is a long-term activity as hospitals circle the wagons and focus inward for innovation–with the help of their designers and builders, of course.

The conference started strong on the empathy theme, from the keynote speaker to various seminars, and the breakfast video on Monday with Dr. Esther Sternberg really brought home treatment and healing via the five senses. Patient-centered design cropped up more than once yesterday, with relevant reference to Planetree. If you are not familiar, check it out.

One of the few minor disappointments thus far: Where is the social media?? I have not seen any of the presenters mention media as a way to deliver or improve care, or even used to educate and communicate the presenters’ messages. Is healthcare a laggard in content via blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.?

I look forward to Tuesday–so much to explore in future blog posts.