Hospitals of the future
More to think about
The food is lousy. The décor, painfully minimalist. And the staff are so busy, they barely have time to exchange basic pleasantries with you – let alone be of service.
Sound like a stay at a hotel from hell? This is unfortunately the reality of many hospital visits today. While many hospitals offer formidable medical service, the quality of service on other fronts often leaves a lot to be desired.
The result is inefficient patient flows, dissatisfied staff and slower recovery rates. Bad hospital service can indeed damage your health.
Poor prognosis
The need for service improvement at public sector hospitals is undeniable and urgent. In the future, public hospitals will face an array of socio‐economic challenges, which together will present an unprecedented burden on the public sector.
Budget cuts will force hospitals to save money where possible. Hospitals will be understaffed. The elderly population will increase, as will the incidence of lifestyle diseases. And private hospitals, with their increasingly optimised service offering, will present tough competition.
Prescription for recovery
Change is underway at many hospitals – public and private – across the world. Recognising the economic, social and medical need for service optimisation, hospitals have set about trying to create the magic potion for service success.
Of course, initiatives vary. Some hospitals have chosen to focus investment in technology-driven initiatives such as electronic administration systems (Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan) and telemedicine.
Others have chosen a more people-centred approach, developing facilities such as alternative breast cancer treatment (Beth Israel Hospital, New York) and recreative gardens (Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, Scotland).
Some hospitals are taking communication so seriously, that they’ve established Twitter (Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore) and web forums that allow patients to exchange knowledge and provide each other with emotional support.
Patient power and choice
Key to almost all successful service innovation initiatives at hospitals, however, is patient empowerment. Today there is a growing understanding that patients must and should be at the centre of any hospital service – and active too. Patient choice, activation and self-care are now widely recognised as a prescription for recovery.
Trends to watch
Just now there is a tendency that all new hospitals have an abundance of individual rooms. But is this wise? We need to ensure that patients don’t feel isolated and still have that all-important opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge with other patients. Individual space is important, but should be supplemented with opportunities for social interaction.
Another trend is super hospitals – large, specialist institutions that replace local, community hospitals. This is a paradigm shift will place new demands on hospital service offerings. For example, it will become increasingly important to ensure that patients feel like individuals, not numbers. And inter-departmental communication will have to be both efficient and effective.
Innovation challenge
Hospitals are not easy environments for service innovation. Life and death are at stake every second, so patient health will and should be always the priority. Politics and hierarchy abound. Staff and resources are short supply. And as with any process of change, user groups will invariably oppose certain elements of service innovation.
In this context especially, it’s important to collaborate with patients, relatives and staff and test concepts in real-life environments. It also requires a brave and motivated management that supports the initiative and helps communicate its importance throughout the organisation. This will be how hospitals survive future challenges and grow stronger.
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Interesting!
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