Healthcare Waiting Spaces Need Power That Moves
This year's trends report puts technology and flexibility at the top of the healthcare design agenda. In the waiting room, both depend on where the wall outlets are.
"[H]ow waiting can be made a valuable part of the healthcare experience."
Seth Starner, Steelcase Health researcher, "Higher Expectations, Less Patience"
Ahead of its September show in Charlotte, the Healthcare Facilities Symposium and Expo published the four trends its organizers see shaping facility planning. Medical Construction and Design reported them in August:
- Powered up design. More connected buildings, with investment in digital infrastructure, smart systems and patient monitoring.
- Behavioral health. Trauma-informed spaces built around safety, dignity, natural light and sensory control.
- Flexible, future-ready care spaces. Rooms that adapt to new care models, shifting patient volumes and new technology.
- Human-centered design. Hospitality-style interiors, family spaces and respite areas for staff.
Three of the four meet in one room. The waiting space is where patients and families bring their own technology, where furniture is expected to move, and where comfort gets judged first.
The outlet decides the layout
Steelcase's design principles for waiting spaces include two about power: give people easy access to it for personal devices throughout the space, and make that power flexible enough to follow the furniture.
In practice, the opposite happens. A phone is how a patient gets the check-in text and the queue update, and how they reach the family member parking the car. When the battery runs low, people move to the chair nearest the wall. Seating clusters around outlets, cords cross the walkways, and the layout the designer drew gives way to the one the outlets allow.
Fixed power also works against flexibility. Every floor box or powered seat ties a furniture plan to one spot, and changing that plan means calling an electrician.
What portable power changes
Portable power removes the link between where the outlet is and where people sit:
- Power goes to the seat. A visitor takes a power bank from an Omni Power Station and carries it to whichever chair they chose. Nobody has to sit by the wall.
- The room moves without rewiring. A station needs one outlet. The Omni Power Station 20+ holds seven power banks, so the seating around it can be rearranged freely.
- Families and staff are covered too. The Omni 40+ can power two laptops at once, which suits a relative working through a long wait. For staff respite rooms, the 80C+ has the longest runtime in the lineup.
The trends report and the Steelcase research point the same way. Healthcare spaces are being asked to carry more technology and to change shape more often. Power that moves with people lets a waiting room do both, which is the story our customers tell in their case studies.
An industry perspective, not a partnership
This article is Omnicharge's commentary on published industry material. Omnicharge is not affiliated with, partnered with or endorsed by the Healthcare Facilities Symposium and Expo, Medical Construction and Design, or Steelcase.
Quoted excerpts remain the property of their authors and are used with attribution. Photos on this page are Omnicharge's own.
Planning a waiting space?
Tell us about the room and we will suggest a station setup for it. Visit us at the Healthcare Design Conference + Expo in New Orleans, October 18-20, booth 2945.
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