ITIC MENA: Modularity as a disruptor - pop-up hospitals
Andrea Maggioni MD, Ph.D, MBA, Director Global Health, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, spoke to attendees about how modular hospitals, or departments thereof, are changing the paradigm of how healthcare can be delivered to communities
Dr Maggioni’s presentation posed questions about the human paradigm, and why we as humans think the way we do and how we are conditioned to expect certain products to be a certain size and shape – including the way in which our healthcare is delivered. So when building a new hospital, what patients expect is key. Regardless of location and size of facility, patients will expect the same outcomes from the same brand.
“If we look at any disease, there are four phases of care – screen, prevent, treat and monitor,” said Dr Maggioni. “Most of the screening and prevention happens in outpatient care, treatment is given on an in-patient basis, and monitoring the patient is done virtually. But why should screening happen in an outpatient basis?” What if the screening equipment could come to the patient?
Dr Maggioni then identified the factors that drive outcomes and make patients choose a particular brand in healthcare. Cost is a major driver, he said, followed by access (physically and culturally), expertise of the whole team, and comfort. “Comfort is not about the bed, or pain management,” he explained. “Comfort means the capability of the patient and their loved ones to be stable in their environment. Comfort in paediatric care is more important than in any other patient population. You are providing care and comfort to the whole family.” Lastly, one of the most important patient drivers is the quality of follow-up care and the clarity of information the patient is given. These are all elements of hospital design that should be considered.
Looking at the ongoing development in how healthcare is being provided, Dr Maggioni moved to the potential of pop-up hospitals – field hospitals by another name. The ability of a provider to move a hospital – or part of a hospital – to where it is needed most will further change how healthcare is delivered. “It’s not necessarily about moving an entire hospital, you can choose a unit that is needed and moved into place,” he said. “Once you’re in the unit, as a patient, or as a doctor, you wouldn’t know that it’s a temporary structure. It is a set environment that contains all the equipment, the staff and culture of the hospital itself. It changes the hospital paradigm.” And, he continued, if you want the same outcome in these temporary environments as they have in the main hospital, the pop-up one has to exactly mirror what the physician is used to, because their behaviour and performance is conditioned, and the need to replicate the outcome means the environment in which they work has to be replicated.
“Pop-up units are a disruptive technology and it is here to stay,” Dr Maggioni told attendees. “It will continue to disrupt how healthcare is being delivered. We are watching evolution happen, let’s take advantage of the opportunity we are being offered. Hospitals that do not adapt to this new care paradigm will be left behind.”