1. 3118 Richmond Ave. | Suite 200 | Houston | Texas | 77098 | www.invdesgroup.com | 713.524.5555
Inventure Design’s Director of Healthcare projects, Kimberly Phipps-
Nichol, recently returned from two of our industry’s most inspiring and
thought-leading conferences, and in this summary she shares some
of her most meaningful take-aways from the Healthcare Facilities
Symposium and Expo (Chicago) and the Planetree Patient-Centered
Conference (Boston).
Favorites can be best categorized as the 4 Truths or “4T’s”
• Transformative
• Transparency
• Trust
• Tribute
Highest on the list is the delivery of transformative, compassionate
care in the face of increasing challenges. Regardless of one’s path to
working in healthcare, most of us arrived here because of our desire
to serve and heal people and communities. Along the journey, many
have become bogged down in systems and processes, often working
in facilities ill-equipped for delivering truly compassionate care.
When viewed as challenges, increased regulation, reduced
reimbursements, higher real-estate costs and transparency of
patient satisfaction due to the ACA* and HCAHPS* survey lay at
the crossroads of a tumult.
When seen as opportunities, it begs the question: “what next?”. How
do we design for and deliver care that truly heals the community at
large, so that people become healthier, happier, less chronic, safer,
more active and more engaged? Changes in these characteristics and
behaviors directly impact the cost and timeliness of care. Communities
become healthier and experience a higher quality of life when they
have access to fresh, local foods and basic, daily necessities within
walking distance of each other. And while reduced automotive
dependency has the immediate impact of a lower cost of living, it
also reduces pollution, respiratory ailments and risk of accidents. One
solution leads to another…
At both conferences I participated in workshops, lectures, master
classes and presentations that showcased how everyone: from the VA
(yes, you read that right) to small clinics, and all sizes of health facilities
in between, are using design and planning to heal. Heal their
patients and families, their caregivers and their community. Facilities
designed and systems operated according to patient and family
centered care models like Planetree shared their success stories of
WHAT IF: Your healthcare facility was
designed to Inspire Wellness, so that it
served not just as a place to survive, but
was seen as a community in which to thrive?
“Designers heal the places that medicine
cannot touch. Exquisitely designing and
planning facilities that support patients, families
and caregivers IS compassionate care.”
-Allison Massari, burn and head trauma patient,
compassionate care advocate and 2015 Keynote speaker,
Healthcare Facilities Symposium and Expo
better clinical outcomes, culture change, safer environments, waste and
cost reductions, higher patient satisfaction and HCAHPS ratings, and
potentially stronger reimbursement cases.
Many more systems and facilities shared stories of their implementation
of LEAN* and Integrated Project Delivery processes to reduce project
unknowns, cost and schedule overruns and late client-driven changes;
giving projects greater opportunity to save time, money, and frustration
while boosting reputation. The public opinion exposure within the
HCAHPS surveys and online services such as kevinMD.com are driving
the bus toward transparency. Projects and processes are following
suit, in an effort to to gain the public trust.
It’s not an easy journey, though. Because at it’s core, it requires
change. That hated 6 letter word so necessary for growth and
transformation. Change takes leadership, trust, commitment, passion
and compassion. It also takes partnership to make it happen. Time
and again, hospitals and practitioners shared stories of partnership
success. Trusting their team of experts and being open to the process.
The path does, however, become easier and more natural as
stakeholders gain tribute for their success stories, commitment and
transparency. Internal system-wide celebration of clinicians and
staff, coupled with external honors such as Planetree Designation*,
LEED* or WELL* building certification, and Generative Space*
awards all serve to highlight the goals and mark success. They’re
also fantastic marketing tools. For example, when I needed an ER
on a recent trip to Brazil, I chose to travel farther than the closest
hospitals in order to seek care at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Latin
America’s first Planetree Designated hospital. I experienced first-hand
the extraordinary care that they provide, in an inspiring and uplifting
environment. Every clinician and staff member I queried said they love
working there because of the patient and family centered environment
and peaceful facilities.
*DENOTE BRANDED SYSTEMS & PROCESSES

2. 3118 Richmond Ave. | Suite 200 | Houston | Texas | 77098 | www.invdesgroup.com | 713.524.5555
TOP 3 TRENDS
COMMUNITY
Health systems serve communities, not just
people. As “patients” become “healthcare
consumers” and take a more active role in
the control of their health and wellness, the
call toward community becomes stronger.
We see an increase in large, big-named
systems building smaller clinics and
medical office buildings farther afield than
ever before. There is also a drive toward
“building community” within existing,
centralized campuses. Pop-up farmer’s
markets and basic needs shops, combined
with art, culture and philanthropic events
serve to bring the community to the campus
in new and engaging ways.
“I love conferences. Whether as speaker or attendee, the
collective buzz of knowledge and experience transfer amongst
like-minded individuals is invigorating. Many thanks to Inventure
Design for their exceedingly generous role in keeping my tools
sharp and resource community inspiring.” Kimberly Phipps-Nichol
is Associate Principal and Director of Healthcare, Community and
Sustainability projects for Inventure Design in Houston, Texas.”
Want to learn more?
We offer lunch & learns and workshops
to share our resources, latest findings
and community centric projects.
Contact Kimberly at:
kphipps-nichol@invdesgroup.com or
713.255.1262
Having designed, worked, volunteered, or received care
in numerous and diverse types of healthcare and wellness
practices, I can attest to the healing power of compassionate
people working in an inspiring space. Empowered by their
administration and process to deliver truly transformative
care, they can heal communities, not just people. This is why
Inventure Design loves designing and planning healthcare
facilities. Design should uplift the spirit, inspire wellness, and
benefit all stakeholders. Projects and developments should
create value, build brand, nurture community, and create safe
havens for our most vulnerable populations. “Photo of Herman Miller caregiver booth at Planetree Conference”
LEAN/IPD
While hospitals seemingly don’t have
anything to do with the super-efficient
production system that Toyota made
famous, “Lean” principles are being applied
to the planning, design and construction
of healthcare facilities in a process called
Integrated Project Delivery. Unlike the
traditional design/bid/build model, IPD’s
success comes when healthcare clients:
• identify their desired project team early
• engage all relevant partners
throughout the process
• invest in early-stage mock-ups
that give caregivers and staff the
tools they need to understand the
environment
• trust the process
ADAPTABILITY
Adaptability requires that spaces and
systems be designed for flexibility and
evolution, not just respond to change. We
are seeing a move toward slightly larger,
more general patient and treatment room
layouts that can facilitate the transition of
a wing of a hospital from a med/surg
floor one year to specialty floor the next.
As community demographics change
and technologies improve, hospitals and
clinics need more nimble solutions to their
real estate puzzles. Some systems are
exploring pre-fabricated interior walls,
fixtures and millwork for large projects and
others are looking at completely prefab for
stand-alone neighborhood clinics.