Special Focus: Medical Facility Design
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n 2012, the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation (CFI), an embedded service design group within the Mayo Clinic that is focused on transforming the delivery and experience of health and health care, was asked to begin a project with the Kasson Clinic, a small family medicine satellite clinic in rural Dodge County. We would research how a clinic could be designed to keep the community healthy, rather than the typical care delivery model of providing only sick care, when needed, to patients who visit the clinic. This goal was in response not only to new reimbursement models on the horizon, but also to a request from the local population seeking more engagement in their health care, to create a healthier community.
The project began much like any other building project within a large institution—a search for a site and funding, and deciding on the project’s parameters. From the beginning, the
Beyond walls and built spaces Designing the future in partnership with the community By Allison Matthews CFI design team added another, less typical, component to the work through detailed community engagement. Before the planning process began, community meetings were held in a variety of locations, to attempt to determine what people really wanted from their clinic. Engaging community The design team knew that the community needed to be part of the design process, but initial attempts were not as fruitful as hoped. The first error was asking people outright what they wanted from a clinic. They were
asked to imagine something completely new and different, but initially all the participants could do was reflect back on their experiences with the current services provided by the clinic. The community members excelled at listing what they expected from their current clinic, what it could do better, and what it already did well, but they had a harder time imagining the clinic providing services or spaces that aren’t traditionally related to a clinic. For example, patients were able to provide valuable insights about how they would
like the waiting spaces in a new clinic to be designed, how the hours could be improved to be more convenient for their work schedules, and better ways for the clinic to interface with the local high schools, but they weren’t able to move beyond the current health care paradigm. When the designers asked about new modes of interacting with the clinic, such as via a video connection, participants had a difficult time reconciling that with their current understanding of a clinic. Changing methodology Community meetings weren’t accomplishing the level of engagement the team was seeking. So we decided to change our methodology to better leverage the capabilities of the Center for Innovation as a service design group, through new ways of approaching the design problem that allowed for a deeper understanding of the unspoken needs and desires of the community. The team began having conver-
Physician Practice Opportunities Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center is part of the Avera system of care. Avera encompasses 300 locations in 97 communities in a five-state region. The Avera brand represents system strength and local presence, compassionate care and a Christian mission, clinical excellence, technological sophistication, an array of specialty care and industry leadership. Currently we are seeking to add the following specialists:
• General Surgery
• Pediatrics
• Radiation Oncology
• Obstetrics/Gynecology
• Internal Medicine
• Family Practice
For details on these practice opportunities go to http://www.avera.org/marshall/physicians/ For more information, contact Dave Dertien, Physician Recruiter, at 605-322-7691 • Dave.Dertien@avera.org Avera Marshall Regional • Medical Center 300 S. Bruce St. • Marshall, MN 56258
www.averamarshall.org 32
Minnesota Physician June 2014