By Healthcare Facilities Today

In a recent post on her Healthcare Designed blog, Christie Mayer, reacts to recent media buzz on "boutique hospitals" and the suggestion designers are responsible for higher healthcare costs.

"I was flipping through Contract Design Magazine’s healthcare design issue hoping to see a feature of our latest desert clinic when this editorial headline caught my attention, “Are Beautiful Hospital Interiors a Primary Reason for Rising Healthcare Costs?” At first, the obvious provocation caused me to roll my eyes but my initial dismissal quickly shifted to irritation with the suggestion that designers are to blame for such a blatantly systemic problem," Mayer wrote.

According to Mayer, the “boutique hotel” became a cliche in the mid-2000s but was a needed improvement from the institutional hospitals in the 1960s and 1980s.

The real reason hospitals have become more hotel-like is because of Evidence-based Design (EBD), according to Mayer. Designers understand that design decisions impact recovery time, the spread of infection, medical errors, and patient and staff satisfaction.

While hospitals are concerned with budgets and making money, Mayer says she has never seen marketing lead design decisions. 

"I can tell you what is discussed at length…patient safety, patient care, comfort, convenience, efficiency, staff satisfaction and retention, stress reduction, emotional security, environmental sensitivity, long-term wellness, and family accommodations. I know, it sounds awfully altruistic. It certainly doesn’t support the agenda of those dedicated to a series themed on overspending in healthcare," she wrote.

A fire place or water fall in the lobby provides positive distractions reduce stress and shortening hospital stays. With private rooms, less people die. Those things good for the bottom-line  but to suggest that ROI is driving design decisions is insulting to the people who have dedicated themselves to improving the healthcare experience, Mayer said.

Read the blog.