Life Enhancement Centers

Albert Einstein cleverly noted, “Change is never accomplished by fighting a reality that already exists. Rather, to change, one must build a new model rendering the old obsolete.” These words resonate as I listen to a heart-wrenching patient story during the Free Market Medical Association conference. Ideally, we put our trust in our physicians, and we bring the ones we love to hospitals in the hopes of seeing them get well. Amidst the paper work, the lab work, the constant telephone ringing and the traffic of worried individuals, we must continue hoping for the best and staying positive for our loved ones’ healing.

Douglas Elting, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, is a member of Visions in Architecture, an architectural firm specializing in healthcare planning and design. I am moved as I listen to his solution to help shape the future of health in our society — Life Enhancement Centers (LEC’s), which can be considered “wellness districts.” The Life Enhancement Center will be a newly renovated or repurposed healthcare facility built to address the holistic needs of a community’s citizens. With the value-based model the United States healthcare system is evolving into, this LEC will meet patient's needs by providing the highest quality of service to create patient-positive outcomes. Integrated practice units will be available for patients to meet short-term needs. There will also be outpatient care and urgent care services to improve patients’ long-term needs. An LEC can include a wellness/rehabilitation center, which may prove to be a social magnet for patients within a general area. Further, an LEC can provide nutritional services and refocus the dietary department to become part of the community. Other nutritional initiatives could include integrating local farmer's markets as a source of nutritious food for the LEC. This community-centric clinic can include flexible group classrooms that provide information to the public on important health topics such as diabetes, pre- and post-natal care, Alzheimers, and other topics of interest. All of these activities will begin with patient-friendly architecture, such as open and airy sunlit spaces.

We as a society can successfully shift our health system paradigm to a place where rather than treat the sick, people generally seek to optimize health. This may lead to an entirely new philosophy encompassing the very meaning and purpose of health and healthcare moving forward. ~Faith Njoku, UC Irvine School of Medicine

Contrast Mr. Elting’s vision to today’s hospitals and medical centers. Many are indeed forward thinking, beautiful and functional spaces; but Mr. Elting’s vision goes beyond merely architecture and operations.

Our current healthcare delivery model is designed to treat sick patients, and overall does this very well. However, as America’s healthcare system begins to evolve from a fee-for-service payment system into a value-for-service system, it would behoove medical facilities to consider approaching healing patients from a more holistic viewpoint. The United States is moving towards a healthcare payment model that is based on how a patient’s health improves; therefore, the hospital’s form ideally would change to function more optimally inside this new system. If we are to tend to patients’ overall health outcomes — as opposed to simply treating people once they become ill — medical facilities themselves can promote positive health impacts on people — not just patients. A facility’s architectural design and overall ambiance is a good starting place.

As a society it will be unsustainable to continue to renovate or build new facilities that mimic our healthcare system’s old focus, in hopes that it can still flourish. If we continue down this road of applying an obsolete mindset to the changing health care process, we will continue incurring unnecessary costs that knowingly or unknowingly, bring inefficiency into a system that thrives on value service.

We as a society can successfully shift our health system paradigm to a place where rather than treat the sick, people generally seek to optimize health. This may lead to an entirely new philosophy encompassing the very meaning and purpose of health and healthcare moving forward. As we are changing the function of our healthcare system, reexamining current system plans and forms may lead to a more holistic approach for the healthcare services we render.

Moved to silence by Mr. Elting’s experience, I can understand why his passion and purpose for Life Enhancement Centers radiate from his persona and capture audiences’ imaginations when he speaks. This is an opportunity to profit from the healthcare changes taking place in the United States without regulatory burdens and the rigid confines of an aging system. Once this trend takes over, we as a society can choose to either participate and make real differences, or sit on the sidelines.