Dive Brief:
- Bariatric patients, generally defined as those with a body mass index of 40 or higher, are no longer an afterthought when it comes to planning new patient rooms.
- Experts say there's a trend at hospitals across the US to better accommodate obese patients and visitors, with one of the most extreme examples being Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
- “Most hospitals we are building are providing an increasingly larger percentage of rooms that can accommodate the larger person,” says Nancy Connolly at Hammes Company, a hospital consulting group.
Dive Insight:
Hospitals used to make accommodations for obese patients in just a few rooms, but over the past five to 10 years, such accommodations have gone more mainstream.
It's now typical for 15% to 20% of rooms to accommodate these patients, Connolly says. The newly revamped Parkland now has 862 single-patient rooms that can accommodate the "universal patient," with part of the goal being normal integration with the rest of the hospital. Bariatric patients don't need to feel they are specifically getting a bariatric room, and don't have to be separated in a different unit or wing. Instead, they can recover in the appropriate clinical area for their surgical procedure or condition. “That is the trend,” Dr. David Provost, a Dallas-area surgeon, told The New York Times.
Attention goes not only to the size and location of the room, but to its layout and equipment for both obese patients and visitors from wider doors to specialized beds/bathroom facilities.
