HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released a new free DVD that provides evidence to help hospital officials and architects design safer, high quality hospitals. This new two-part DVD illustrates the value of evidence-based hospital design - a phrase used to describe how the physical design of health care environments affects patients and staff.

With an estimated $250 billion construction boom in the hospital industry over the next 10 years, the DVD is expected to be of significant interest to hospital executives, designers and architects who are planning or implementing construction and renovation projects.

The first part entitled, Transforming Hospitals: Designing for Safety and Quality, gives a brief 13-minute overview and provides current examples of how evidence-based hospital design increases patient safety, satisfaction and quality of care that results in higher staff satisfaction, recruitment and retention.

The second part, Transforming Hospitals: Three Case Studies, is 36 minutes in length and features the experiences of three hospitals that incorporated principles of evidence-based hospital design into new construction and renovation projects. These facilities include Griffin Hospital, Derby, Conn.; Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, Md.; and Woodwinds Health Campus, Woodbury, Minn.

Overall, this two-part DVD explains how evidence-based hospital design construction can deliver:

- Higher quality care
- Greater patient satisfaction
- Superior staff safety
- Positive return on investment

For more information on Transforming Hospitals: Designing for Safety and Quality or AHRQ's research in evidence-based hospital design, visit the AHRQ Web site: ahrq/qual/transform.htm.

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