During a simulation scenario, Dr. Jen Grow and mock patient family test out the design of the new patient rooms
Akron Children’s used a non-traditional approach for the design and construction of our new Kay Jewelers Pavilion that allows the people who are going to use the building – patients and staff – to help design it.
This approach, called Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), brings everyone involved in the project together to seek input before anything is designed.
The goals of this collaborative process are to:
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eliminate waste
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cut costs
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improve productivity
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create positive outcomes
Studies have shown that traditional construction projects contain 57% waste. The IPD team is using Lean Process Improvement principles to reduce that waste and translate it into direct value that will contribute to the hospital’s success and better quality and efficiency of the spaces it contains.
IPD teams comprised members well beyond the owner, architect and contractor. Teams representing the individual units were a mix of patient families, unit leaders, providers, nurses, front desk staff, medical assistants and support services such as pharmacy, respiratory care and radiology. Everyone had an equal voice on the team.
IPD is data-driven, drawing from a variety of sources. A consultant provided a benchmark description of what was needed and measures were taken of everything – from how many trays were delivered to moms in the NICU and how long it takes to get meds to the ER to the square footage of storage and linear feet of shelving in the units.
Patient families were also involved through focus groups, suggestion boards in the impacted units and conversations with select patient families. More than 170 families responded on what to keep, what to change and what to add.
Team members also made visits to 7 other hospitals – such as Nationwide Children’s, Seattle Children’s, CS Mott Children’s and Phoenix Children’s – to see what was working that could be incorporated here and, equally as important, wasn’t working and should be avoided in the new design.
- Related: Meet the IPD Project Teams
