Planning the Patient Room of the Future

The new University Medical Center at Princeton will encompass the latest evidence-based design concepts to enhance patient safety, comfort and outcomes. The design of the new UMCP will keep every aspect of patient care in mind with the goal of forever changing the delivery of healthcare in our region. This includes designing patient rooms that are completely patient-centric. In the new University Medical Center at Princeton, the physical environment will take on a proactive role in helping the patient to heal.

The patient room will no longer be just a place to receive treatment. It will be a very special place that has its own role in the healing process. For better outcomes, patient rooms will be designed around patient safety.

The patient will retain control over his or her room environment. You will be able to adjust the room temperature, the lighting, the personal electronic equipment (i.e., telephone, television, radio, personal computer). The creature comforts will fortify your mental and emotional health, so crucial in the recovery process.

Every room will be a private room (important for infection control, as well as for mental health), with a sleeper sofa that pulls out so that visitors can spend the night. Gourmet meals will be made to order, with dietary needs accurately recorded on the patient's computerized profile; meals will be delivered piping hot whenever the patient or visitors want to eat. The rooms with large picture windows will overlook the pastoral open spaces that hug the Millstone River. The air in the room and in the entire hospital will be 100 percent fresh air, thus dramatically reducing the spread of infectious disease.

The wireless technology of the digital, paperless UMCP will be evident in each room and will allow for such treatment improvements as touch-screen computer monitors at each bed that enable the medical staff to consult electronic health records from anywhere within the hospital (including the bedside), or remotely from office or home. The wireless hookups will enable some non-medical, but emotionally significant procedures, such as sharing photographs of a newborn baby with the other members of the family. Since moving patients from one room to another causes stress on the patient, the new hospital will feature only "variable acuity-adjusted" patient rooms, meaning that the equipment--not the patient--moves as health status changes.