CREJ

July 2018 — Health Care Properties Quarterly — Page 13 www.crej.com T he application of new tech- nologies within the health care industry is not just focused on patient treatment but impacts multiple aspects of the patient experience as well as facility use and security. As a health care designer, collaborating with cli- ents to take full advantage of these technologies, I am focused on recent innovations and those projected for the future. Currently, four innova- tions, one soon to debut, the others already available, are significantly impactful. Telemedicine is one innovation changing the way health care is delivered. Our firm is designing a microclinic with two clinic rooms and one large consulting room for a major health care provider in Denver. Each room will be fully equipped with an integrated moni- tor for telemedicine visits. When a patient comes to this conveniently located neighborhood clinic, but needs to be seen by a specialist a few miles away or even hundreds of miles away, the on-site staff sim- ply dials up the specialist, who can talk face-to-face with the patient via video conferencing. The on-site team can take vitals and even per- form triage under the watchful eye of the specialist. These retail-type clinics at multi- ple locations, equipped with the lat- est technology subtly embedded in a demountable wall system, can pro- vide a high level of patient care to more of the population. A bonus, the sleek flat walls housing the technol- ogy are easy to clean and disinfect, a patented technology by DIRTT. Instant messag- ing is not a new technology, but now applied to the physician-patient relationship it is innovative, saves time, provides convenience and bypasses crowded waiting rooms. My family’s health care provider uses such a system. I have two young children who, like all young children, frequently get sick. Using instant messaging, I can avoid the stress and expense of an office visit and communicate direct- ly with our doctor or a colleague in the office, knowing that both have full access to our medical records. Through this system, I am able to reduce the time spent in a waiting room, potentially preventing the transmission of infection. Another technology, new to the health care industry and a signifi- cant feature when I recently collab- orated on an IT security system for a Denver clinic, is geofencing. Using RFID technology (think short-range GPS technology), geofencing creates a virtual geographical perimeter around a defined area and using software tracks mobile devices as they enter or leave the area. And it can be used to enhance the patient experience, responding immedi- ately when a patient arrives for an appointment by sending a message to their mobile device about the status of their doctor’s availabil- ity – something like, the doctor will be ready to see you in 10 minutes; please grab a complimentary cof- fee at the cafe and we’ll send you a message shortly. Acknowledging the patient’s presence and suggesting their next step makes the visit less stressful and more patient friendly. As a designer or facility owner, we are able to reduce the size or elimi- nate a waiting room all together, allowing for more usable clinical space to better serve patients. Taking it a step further, a new asset management and tracking system developed by Mitchell Plan- ning, working with three hospital CEOs and one member of Homeland Security, is set to launch in August of this year. Based on RFID technol- ogy, the new system tracks people and assets within a health care facility’s geofence. Using a map, similar to “Harry Potter’s” Maraud- ers Map, the software tracks the movements of known persons with one color, unknowns with another color and with a third color indi- cates risks – unidentified or unau- thorized persons at the facility or in restricted zones. When someone passes into a restricted zone, the system immediately alerts security and, if necessary, can even shut the doors and quarantine the threat. Implemented on a facility’s existing security platform, the software is attached to the Wi-Fi system, adding about 1 percent load to the network. Since Homeland Security and the FBI have identified hospitals as soft targets for domestic and interna- tional terrorism, the potential value of tracking is huge. Currently little to no tracking of visitors is done in most health care facilities. Dressed in business attire and carrying a roll of building plans under my arm, I Innovations that enhance client care, security s a u n d e r s i n c . c om BREAK THE MOLD REVOLUTIONIZE THE EXPERIENCE BUILD WHAT MATTERS THE COLORADO HEALTH FOUNDATION | DENVER, COLO. Design Please see Sinclair, Page 22 Emily Sinclair, IIDA, NCIDQ Senior project manager, IA Interior Architects Mitchell Plannning An image of the Mitchell program, set to launch in August.