Adaptibility important for the future of hospitals

What are hospitals of the future going to have to do to keep up with increasing challenges in the field of healthcare? According to a new whitepaper put out by The Joint Commission entitled Health Care at the Crossroads: Guiding Principles for the Development of the Hospital of the Future, a lot.

Five areas in which hospitals will have to take action, according to the report, are economic viability, adoption of technology, patient-centered care, staffing and hospital design. Economically, hospitals will be expected to "increase efficiency and reduce costs," among other things. Technologically, hospitals will have to make changes that can reduce the workload, while at the same time being easily integrated. "The Joint Commission has brought together broad expertise in health care to point to directions for optimizing health care in hospitals," said Dr. Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital. "Hospitals have an enduring role in the delivery of health care and have provided major contributions to enhancing the treatment of disease."

With healthcare costs at an all-time high and the diversity of new patient complications, Dr. Mark R. Chassin, president of The Joint Commission, hospitals will continue to be under scrutiny, even in the best of times.

"As they have been in the past, hospitals must be equally transformative as the future unfolds," Chassin said. "The Joint Commission urges hospitals and public policymakers to use the principles in this report to achieve that aim."

For more on The Joint Commission's whitepaper:
- view the press release
- check out the whitepaper