Nearly every major regional healthcare facility in the United States is in the midst of or planning a capital improvement project. How can you be sure that such projects in your organization incorporate best practices and achieve their intended goals? The answer is to look at the evidence: what are the approaches that other healthcare facilities undertaking similar projects have used that have worked?

This course, the fourth in the six-course certificate program, Healthcare Facilities Design: Strategy & Innovation explores the use of Evidence-Based Design (EBD) to guide the planning, design and management of healthcare facilities and systems. After this course you will be a more intelligent and discerning consumers of research evidence and related information, and be more a productive participant in the planning and design process. You'll learn the key steps in the planning and design process with a focus on how the facility affects quality of care and the experience of patients and care-giving staff. Case studies illustrate design approaches that lend themselves to patient-centered care and that lead to greater operational efficiency and effectiveness. A course project provides students with the opportunity to apply what they're learning to the creation of an outline of a facility plan for their own organization.