Meaningful Healthcare Planning: A New Era for Needs Analysis Plus Creative Design

The pre-design phase of healthcare planning and programming is changing rapidly. The response is relevant to several factors; shifts in care management and service delivery, improved processes for enhanced efficiency, governmental intervention through Meaningful Use and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PP/ACA). These regulatory mandates are complementary to many of the efforts in the past to contain costs, improve access, and improve outcomes associated with the care of patients treated in the public healthcare sector.

This position statement addresses the operational, environmental, and design factors associated with these process improvements to demonstrate the importance of effective pre-design decision making in a new era of professional practice.

This article originally appeared in The Academy Journal, published by the AIA Academy of Architecture for Healthcare (16th edition).