Patient Customized Personalized Experience: The Hospital Room of the Future

Hospital and healthcare design is quickly changing. As exciting new technologies come out daily, architects, doctors, and healthcare administrators are presented with an opportunity to improve patient experiences through incorporating the latest technological advances into facility design. By incorporating these new technologies, healthcare design can help patients feel more comfortable and relaxed, and thus improve recovery time.

Allowing patients to customize their own hospital environment can come in a variety of ways not necessarily requiring an entirely new facility. One thing patients often differ on is their lighting preferences. Some patients may be extremely sensitive to bright light and favor a dimmer, softer lighting while others may prefer lighting that more closely simulates a bright, natural sunlight. The range of patient lighting preference can easily be accommodated by an architect who properly understand the facilitation of differing patient lighting preferences. An architect who understand this can design a room in which patients' beds are located in a position that allows them access to a full range of light dimmers and various lighting options.

Lighting is only one way in which patients often have differing preferences. Providing patients with a way in which they can control the temperature of their room would allow more patients to experience maximum comfort. Like lighting, temperature controls could be strategically placed within reach of patients.

One area that is especially promising for patient room customization is the use of voice control. Imagine a hospital room in which the patient can control everything with only their voice. They can change the channel on the T.V., lower the temperature in the room, and call their loved ones with only the use of their voice. Advances in voice recognition technology have allowed such a hospital room to be taken from our imaginations to reality. Patient experience has never been better and will only continue to improve as designers and healthcare administrators continue to collaborate on designing better facilities that allow for maximum care room customization.