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(Health Care) How do you believe sustainability will change health care faciliti

ID: 470129 • Letter: #

Question

(Health Care)

How do you believe sustainability will change health care facilities in the future? Do you think projects built 20 years ago even were built with sustainability in mind?

What design challenges do robots create in our health care environments?

How do you assess what service lines may need to be added in the future and how do you plan for those today?

As important as internal operations are to a facility, how about regulations and laws? What impact do they have?

Do you think the general public is aware of the laws in place and that they are in place to protect the people?

What are some other factors people consider when selecting a health care facility?

Will surgical robots drive our costs up because of the technology or will it lower costs due to reduction in medical error?

Explanation / Answer

Sustainability will change healthcare in the future. The key word in today’s healthcare facilities is sustainability that is, the facilities that are built with today’s complexities in mind, have to be existent and competent enough for the future also. Patient-centered continuum of care is the future of healthcare, and it is the cornerstone between treating disease and illness and prevention and wellness. Medical Homes and ACO’s are a few models that will start this transition. The question which obviously arises is...what will it look like?
For one, outpatient services will be the focal point of growth. There will be more healthcare at places like Wal-Mart. They have 130 million shoppers a year. They will be a part of the retail healthcare model and a referral power. The MOB will be ‘mapped’ to the hospital, so that outpatient services are on the same floor as inpatient services and the transition can truly be seamless.
Secondly, specialty areas will focus on those that are the most profitable. These include cancer, heart and neuroscience, reflective of the aging baby boomers. Cardiac care will continue, today and in the future, as long as there is ‘fried food.’ Oncology services are increasing every day at all the medical institutions. The population is aging and facilities are not prepared for this ‘tsunami’ of patients. The service lines that will continue to be prevalent are related to the aging population—cardiovascular, arthritis, and sports injuries, as the boomers stay active longer.
The robots are an interesting addition to the service line of healthcare unit. They will help to minimize costs due to reduction in medical error and will also help in almost zero defects as far as treatment is concerned. Obviously the capital expenditure for the same will be pretty high compared to orthodox treatments, but overall it will help to make healthcare a better service provider in the days to come.
Regulations and laws also will hold far greater significance in the future as laws related to medical negligence are going to be more stringent as we move towards a zero defect treatment of patients. General public are normally not aware of all the laws that are in place and special training should be provided to the public to educate them about the same.
Some factors which people consider before selecting a healthcare facility is obviously the quality of treatment that they provide to the normal public. Also the costs incurred for the same is a huge consideration while choosing a healthcare facility along with the location and infrastructure. So sustainability is a key word which has been adopted by most of the modern healthcare facilities. Without sustainability, these healthcare facilities may look to become extinct or non-functional in the future.