A Case Study of Ambulatory Care Center Layouts

Balancing Support for Staff and Patient-Centeredness through the Design of Immediate and Relational Space: A Case Study of Ambulatory Care Center Layouts

BSA is pleased to have contributed to industry knowledge on ambulatory care design through our recent paper published in Health Environments Research & Design. In it, we consider the inherent tension between patient-centered care and staff privacy. Specifically, we measure staff visual exposure and patient spatial integration for iterations of two layout typologies—onstage/offstage and centerstage. The center stage layouts better integrate patients while creating more visual exposure of staff. Conversely, the onstage-offstage layouts segregated patients but preserved staff privacy. Future layout typologies should find ways to integrate the patient while providing some degree of respite for staff. Existing and emergent ambulatory care typologies should further be evaluated using rigorous and reliable measures of floorplan layout.

Zook, J., Spence, T. J., & Joy, T. (2020). Balancing Support for Staff and Patient Centeredness Through the Design of Immediate and Relational Space: A Case Study of Ambulatory Care Center Layouts. HERD, 1937586720961554.

Read the full paper here.