Expanding the use of technology in health care provides significant benefits – but it also requires an infrastructure that adequately protects our hospital employees, our patients, and their families from cybersecurity threats. Working with hospitals in a cloud environment or internet-enabled devices, for example, can bring risks along with benefits. In this session, John Riggi will discuss the steps that the American Hospital Association is taking to help hospitals ensure reliable and secure access to data. There are many potential entry points for hackers to access health care facilities, and hospitals should prepare for cybersecurity risks as a key component of business continuity frameworks.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Explain how the American Hospital Association is working to help keep our nation’s hospitals secure and free of cyberattacks.

2.) Describe how you can protect your company or hospital from becoming a potential entry point for clandestine visitors.

3.)  List examples of ways to help keep your key stakeholders, including clients, patients, and others, secure.

New studies show the relationship between indoor air quality and occupant health, not just occupant comfort. Sound evidence calls for new design and maintenance standards for acute medical and surgical care facilities, as well as for residential nursing and assisted living facilities. Come to this presentation to learn how to support occupant health using building design and indoor air management. Become a leader in improving employee productivity and student learning, and in alleviating the burden of acute and chronic diseases.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Identify the effect of dry indoor air on the human body, the microbiome of the built environment, and the transmission of disease-causing microbes.

2.) Review new research supporting the health benefits of balanced indoor-air hydration.

3.) Explain the value of using human physiological data as a metric for overall building health and operation.

4.) Participate in ASHE, ASHRAE, and FGI discussions on best-practice indoor humidification minimum and maximum levels for occupied buildings.

United States hospitals are legacy institutions but may no longer reflect safe or financially effective treatment, advances in technology, or a human-centered experience. This presentation includes emerging models of care and promising planning and organizational models that contribute to improved outcomes. What if hospitals were structured on basic categories of care such as urgent/emergent, invasive/procedural, processing and distribution of materials? In redefining departments and eradicating long-standing silos of reporting structures lies the implicit promise of improved care and efficiency.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Develop a basis of understanding of the U.S. hospital and why it is the way it is.

2.) Assess examples of innovative provision of care that challenge the status quo.

3.) Improve understanding of the regulatory process and what it might take to make change.

4.) Discover why the U.S. hospital needs to be more flexible in the future.

According to the CDC, nearly 8 million U.S. health care workers are potentially exposed to hazardous drugs, resulting in acute and chronic health effects. The US Pharmacopeial Convention released <800> Hazardous Drugs &ndashl Handling in Healthcare Settings. This session will explore USP 797 and USP 800 regulations and their underlying intent, upcoming revisions, implementation schedules, and compliance strategies. We will share where we have maximized investments by forecasting the industry and discuss how to reduce costly construction while supporting continuous operation.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Describe the intent of the USP 797 and USP 800, upcoming revisions to those standards, and their implementation schedules.

2.) Identify operational practices, workflows, and new technologies that support USP 797/800 compliance.

3.) Explain mechanical systems that facilitate compliance, testing, and maintenance.

4.) Describe finishes and details that avoid the accumulation of contaminants and support rigorous cleaning regimens.

This session builds on the Facility Guidelines Institute workshop conducted during the 2016 PDC Summit and the interactive session conducted during the 2017 PDC Summit. In this session, a “Shark Tank” format will engage the audience in understanding, improving on, and voting for the best ideas from those who gathered in small groups to reimagine childbirth facilities. We will also demonstrate how the FGI uses these tools to improve Guidelines development and to test new ideas for childbirth facilities.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Identify the basic principles of design thinking and process mapping.

2.) Review how FGI is evolving and how it is using design thinking and clinical expertise to improve future Guidelines content.

3.) Gain exposure to new ideas for childbirth facility design.

4.) Shape a further research agenda for the FGI by helping to pick a best topic.

Small projects make up a majority of the project landscape. This presentation focuses on a large health care system and its first integrated project delivery projects and the unique challenges in implementing IPD tools for projects $10M and less including a new ground-up building and an interior hospital renovation. The panel of presenters will share their stories of success and failure in trying to leverage how lean tools on the big jobs can be right-sized for first IPD implementations.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Identify risk/reward member financial forecasting and management for small projects.

2.) Explain target value design on an accelerated time line.

3.) Describe rapid trade partner integration during a short duration.

4.) State the owner's involvement and its importance in this project process.

Mental and behavioral health facilities are among the last health specializations to be addressed systematically by design and research communities. Recent publications have drawn attention to the issues associated with providing therapeutic and supportive environments. Representatives of health care design firms and academic researchers will introduce trends and findings and then the panel will discuss basic concepts. The presenters will also survey the audience regarding their perceptions of the most critical factors in mental and behavioral health facility design.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Discover the most pressing design issues related to mental and behavioral health facilities.

2.) Encounter the most recent research related to the design of mental and behavioral health facilities.

3.) Identify potential impacts of the indoor and outdoor physical environment on patient outcomes.

4.) Discover future trends in psychiatric facilities.

Urban health systems are often credited with driving health care innovation, but rural and critical access hospitals can also be fertile ground for new ideas. The fundamental challenges of rural care – staffing and funding shortages and changing community needs – can inspire creative solutions that push the boundaries of traditional thinking and leverage staff and space in new ways. This session showcases several recent operational and planning innovations including universal platforms that were spearheaded by rural providers.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Explore emerging operational and planning strategies that challenge traditional patient care boundaries.

2.) Identify potential cultural and code-related roadblocks in creating interdepartmental care platforms and learn how to navigate them.

3.) Review processes that engage leadership and front-line staff in innovating traditional care models to design shared, flexible space.

4.) Cultivate the cultural shifts that promote efficiency, adaptability, and collaboration.

Effective designs reduce risk in behavioral health units and designated ED exam rooms for suicidal patients at risk. Makovich has designed dozens of psychiatric units for numerous health systems. His methods include numerous safeguards for patients, staff, and visitors to help reduce ligature risks and injury. Allen, a safety professional, has surveyed hundreds of hospitals to help reduce risk and is experienced in suicide claims. A review of claim details and the cost to the hospital will be included.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Identify environmental risks of suicide and safety in hospitals.

2.) Apply measures to mitigate patient injury and reduce stress for staff or patients and promote staff and patient wellness.

3.) Evaluate the cost of patient suicides in hospitals.

4.) Provide references to CMS and Joint Commission for compliance with standards and mitigation.

This session will review the implementation of lean Six Sigma strategies into existing comprehensive cancer facilities to better the experience of patients and staff. A case study will be explored of an infusion clinic refocused to systematically improve daily operations to further patient volume without sacrificing patient care or employee satisfaction.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Review lean Six Sigma principles.

2.) Identify the applications of lean Six Sigma to health care.

3.) Describe focus areas to improve facility performance.

4.) Clarify the cause of waste to distinguish it from the effects.