Evidence for Design of Emergency Departments

Title: Environmental Correlates of Efficiency and Safety in Emergency Departments Funds: Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation (AAHF) Research Grant and Herman Miller Grant Period: January 2010 to October 2012 Collaborators: Herman Miller, Synurgy Healthcare Solutions Location: Four emergency departments in large US hospitals Findings: 16 domains of physical design decisions influence safety, efficiency, or both in the ED: 1) entrance and patient waiting, 2) traffic management, 3) sub-waiting or internal waiting areas, 4) triage, 5) exam/ treatment area configuration, 6) exam/ treatment area centralization versus decentralization, 7) exam/ treatment room standardization, 8) adequate space, 9) nurse work space, 10) physician work space, 11) adjacencies and access, 12) equipment room, 13) psych room, 14) staff de-stressing room, 15)hallway width, and 16) results waiting area.