Abstract

Healthcare environments are designed to support a clinical and social model of care. Co-design methods, developed to enhance collaboration between architects and stakeholders, require constant evaluation to assure a fit between the desired model of care and the architectural design. This process is subject to limitations in communication between design team members who come from different disciplines and possess different professional experiences.

The study compares two ophthalmology outpatient clinics intended to be constructed in Israel in the near future. The first is located in a new building in Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa; the second is an extension of the existing outpatient clinic in Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. Both projects were designed in collaboration between the architect and the units’ clinical teams, and reflect different models of care.

Rambam hospital clinic was designed with a central waiting area to avoid interruptions to clinicians’ work, while the Meir hospital clinic was designed with decentralised waiting areas to locate patients as close as possible to treatment rooms for efficiency. A comparative evaluation of the two outpatient clinics illustrates the consequences of these different design decisions.

The study presents a simulation method to predict, analyse and evaluate architectural design options. A digital model was developed to integrate the clinics’ spatial environment, its procedures, and users, including patients, staff and family members. Based on interviews and observations in the existing outpatient clinics, patterns of behaviour were defined and implemented in the simulation model. The results, illustrated by spatial data maps, visualise the expected use patterns of the space and the influence of the waiting area locations on the clinics’ performance, including patients’ wait time, staff walking distances, density, noise levels, and potential for interactions between staff and patients.

A comparative evaluation of the two design options by stakeholders revealed correlations between the design and the clinic performance, resulting in reconsideration and optimisation of the design.

Acknowledgement: This research was supported by a European Research Council grant and the Azrieli Foundation Fellowship.