Weill Cornell Research: The Ecology of the Patient Visit Webinar CD-ROM

Weill Cornell Research: The Ecology of the Patient Visit is a webinar case study presentation of the of the relationship between the attractiveness of a healthcare facility and patents' perceptions of their quality of care.

In recent years, the types of patient outcome measures affected by the facility design have ashifted to focus more on the patient's perceptions of quality and satisfaction. There is growing support for the belief that “as healthcare facilities strive to satisfy their consumers in a competitive market, attention turns to the patient perceptions of their physical surroundings and how environmental elements affect their healthcare experiences.” To date, however, little research has been done on patient experiences in ambulatory, as opposed to in-patient, facilities.

In this webinar, Professor Franklin Becker, Professor and Chair of the Department of Design & Environmental Analysis at Cornell University, presents the findings from a Center for Health Design Pebble study at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. The study examined the relationships between the attractiveness of the physical facilities, waiting times, and the perceived quality of care and staff-patient interaction in seven outpatient practices. One key finding was that patients' perceptions of quality of care and waiting times were significantly related to the attractiveness of the ambulatory facilities.

Webinar Learning Objectives

• Increase understanding of the relationship between the design of ambulatory facilities and patients' perceptions of quality of care.
• Consider the ways in which small-scale design changes can improve the patient experience.
• Develop an appreciation of the role evidence-based design can play in planning and designing patient-centered healthcare facilities.

About the Speaker

Franklin Becker, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. He is the co-founder (with Professor William Sims) of the first Facility Planning and Management Program in the world, at Cornell University in 1980. Professor Becker's Ph.D., from the University of California at Davis, is in Social and Environmental Psychology.

For more than 25 years Professor Becker's research has examined the organizational ecology of large corporate organizations; that is, how the planning, design and management of the physical environment interacts with factors such as organizational culture, information technologies, work processes, and employee demographics to influence individual, team, and organizational performance. Current research focuses on how the planning and design of hospital facilities affects communication and interaction patterns among different clinical staff and between staff and patients, and nurses' job stress and job satisfaction.

Professor Becker has conducted research, lectured, and consulted in England, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand as well as the United States. Professor Becker is the author of six books, including (with Fritz Steele) Workplace By Design: Mapping the High Performance Workscape (Jossey-Bass, 1995). His latest book is Offices at Work: Uncommon Workspace Strategies that Add Value and Improve Performance (Jossey-Bass, 2004.)