HGA and UW Health have won an Evidence-Based Design (EBD) Touchstone Award Silver Level for the B4/4 Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit renovation at University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.
The 13,000 square-foot B4/4 inpatient unit serves as a prototype for future inpatient unit design across the multi-campus healthcare system. The prototype goals responds to a variety of patient and staff needs, supports caregiver collaboration, and streamlines operational efficiencies.
“In planning the intensive care unit, HGA and UW Health applied evidence—both observational data using a variety of EBD and Lean research tools, and published research in peer-review literature—to identify best practices,” said Kiki Werkheiser, EDAC, Work Process Specialist at HGA. “We started by studying the ideal present and future states, and looking at other newer units within the health system to understand what works and determine variables that we could adjust.”
As follow-up to the planning process and Intensive Care Unit opening in early 2018, the design team plans to conduct a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) using similar research and Lean tools to compare with pre-occupancy, baseline metrics, and pre-design predicted measures.
“UW Health embraced the Lean and EBD framework throughout the planning process,” said Kara Freihoefer, PhD, Director of Research at HGA. “While it can be resource-intensive for healthcare organizations to conduct research in the pre-planning phase, the ROI in the final design justifies the upfront investment in time, cost, and personnel. A growing number of organizations are taking UW Health’s lead and embracing EBD to guide decision-making in the planning process. This is encouraging for the future of EBD.”
The jurors praised HGA and UW Health for doing an “outstanding job of assembling a diverse group of stakeholders and interdisciplinary team members who were engaged in all phases of the project life cycle. It was notable that they made a special effort to engage patients and family members in large numbers and in a meaningful way throughout the project.”
Sponsored by The Center for Health Design, The Evidence-Based Design Touchstone Awards recognize evidence-based design process to increase value for patients, families, staff, and healthcare organizations; improve outcomes; and engage all stakeholders in a healthcare design project.
HGA previously won an Evidence-Based Design Touchstone Award Silver Level for a medical-surgical unit renovation at Froedtert Hospital.
For more information, visit The Center for Health Design.
About UW Health
UW Health is the integrated health system of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, serving more than 600,000 patients annually at six hospitals and more than 80 outpatient sites.