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Guide to Hospital Design: Embrace Digital Transformation

March 6, 2023

The post-pandemic world has shifted approaches to interior design across a broad spectrum of industries. The healthcare industry is no exception. The rise of virtual care and telehealth has created new challenges for hospital interior designers.

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Telehealth and Its Impact on Healthcare Interior Design

The rise of telehealth and virtual care has created a need for designated and secure spaces for virtual consultations. This means fulfilling design requirements that respect the patient’s privacy while delivering high-quality care. The creation of new spaces as well as the modification of existing rooms can help achieve this. Flexible and multifunctional furniture and building elements will further future-proof hospital design.

By following the six key elements, hospital designers can create calm spaces for telehealth. These elements are intrinsically built into Rockfon Medicare products, allowing for an adaptable approach to creating spaces that promote health and healing.

1. Acoustics and Ambience

Creating an acoustically harmonious space for virtual care is essential for ensuring clear and consistent communication. When speaking to patients remotely, doctors need to know if their advice is being heard and understood. This means reducing background noise to an absolute minimum.

Spaces designated for telehealth should be kept as far away as possible from noisy rooms. HVAC systems, and other areas such as busy corridors, stairwells, and receptions should also be avoided. In addition, the walls and ceilings should be designed with sound absorption in mind.

Beware that while high-performance glass windows can block outside noise, they can also reverberate interior noise directly back. This makes the indoor environment noisier with echoes and low speech clarity.

By integrating Rockfon sound-absorbing solutions dedicated to hospital settings, you can ensure the perfect virtual care environment.

2. Natural Light

A clinical environment should be illuminated with a combination of natural light and warm, artificial light. At the same time, any excessive brightness from sunlight needs to be reduced. This can impact the image quality when using video conferencing for virtual care.

For artificial lighting, interior designers should avoid harsh fluorescent bulbs that can cause an image to appear washed out. Designers should use materials that help natural light bounce around the room to create an even lighting effect. This will help maximise the benefits of natural light in healthcare settings.

Our Rockfon® Blanka® tiles are created to accentuate the positive aspects of natural light. The brightness and clarity of a room can help patients feel more comfortable discussing their health issues with doctors.

4. Cleanliness

It should go without saying that cleanliness is a top priority in any healthcare setting. This includes virtual care and telehealth spaces. The materials used play a vital role in cleanliness, restricting the spread of bacteria to help keep the environment sanitary.

Rockfon® CleanSpace™ is made from stone wool, which lacks any nutritional value and inhibits the development of mould and bacteria. Combining both hygiene and cleaning for easy care and maintenance, our wall panels and ceiling tiles are easy to clean and disinfect.

This gives doctors and other healthcare professionals peace of mind, as the risk of disease transmission is minimised.

5. Patients' Accessibility

While hospital interiors for telehealth are primarily occupied by doctors and other healthcare professionals, they need to be accessible for patients. Sometimes face-to-face consultations are unavoidable, and these spaces need to be designed with this eventuality in mind.