Healthcare leaders are under pressure to improve outcomes, patient experience, and workforce sustainability within fixed budgets and aging facilities. Yet despite investments in quality programs and service initiatives, performance remains uneven. A critical driver of value is often overlooked: how care is physically and operationally experienced.

In this session, Dr. Lorissa MacAllister shows how the built environment directly influences perception of care, staff workflow, and measurable organizational value. Drawing on peer-reviewed research and hospital case studies, she demonstrates how specific spatial and operational features, such as room layout, distance to care teams, and placement of clinical elements, shape how care is interpreted and evaluated.

Research presented links environmental variables to statistically significant differences in patient experience outcomes. For example, patient rooms with handwashing sinks in direct line of sight have been associated with 17 to 27 percent higher satisfaction box scores than rooms where sinks are out of view. Spatial sequencing and proximity between staff work zones and patient rooms have also been shown to affect perceived noise, stress, and communication quality, factors closely tied to HCAHPS domains.

Additional studies show relationships between space design and operational performance, including length of stay, staff turnover, infection risk, and patient transfers, directly affecting cost, throughput, and safety.

Rather than requiring new construction, this session equips leaders with a practical framework to identify experience leverage already embedded in existing facilities and workflows, reframing patient experience as a controllable performance asset.

Learning Objectives

After attending this session, participants will be able to:

Identify how specific environmental features such as room layout, work zone proximity, and sink placement influence patient perception, staff workflow, and operational performance.

Apply behavioral science principles, including the Peak End Rule, to prioritize high-impact clinical touchpoints.

Translate experience goals into operational standards by defining observable behaviors, workflow requirements, and environmental conditions.

Evaluate how physical space and clinical operations can be aligned to reduce friction and improve patient and workforce outcomes without increasing capital or staffing costs.

Healthcare organizations continue to invest in staffing models, leadership development, and wellness initiatives, yet workforce instability and operational breakdown are now among the top threats to care delivery and financial performance. As hospitals face fixed facilities, aging infrastructure, and increasing clinical complexity, leaders are being asked to improve throughput, safety, and retention without additional capital or staffing.

In this session, Dr. Lorissa MacAllister presents an evidence-based perspective showing how clinician stress, inefficiency, and disengagement are often driven by the physical and operational environment rather than individual resilience or leadership failure.

Drawing on more than 20 years of applied research and advisory work with more than 50 health systems globally, she introduces the inFORMed Approach™ (FLOW + FUNCTION minus FRICTION equals FORM), a methodology developed through longitudinal hospital research to identify how everyday spatial conditions shape staff behavior, task flow, cognitive load, and performance.

Participants will examine how environmental friction accumulates through high-traffic zones, inefficient layouts, poor visibility, and misaligned workspaces, forcing clinicians to compensate for design failures with time, attention, and energy. Research and case examples demonstrate how targeted environmental and workflow adjustments have been associated with operational improvements of up to 20 to 25 percent, reduced fatigue, and improved staff sustainability without adding headcount or capital investment.

Rather than prescribing redesigns, this session equips leaders with a diagnostic lens to uncover performance leverage already embedded in existing facilities and workflows. Using real-world healthcare examples, Dr. MacAllister shows how aligning space with how work actually happens can stabilize teams, protect capacity, and support retention under real-world constraints.

This session reframes the care environment from a background condition to a strategic performance system, giving healthcare leaders a repeatable way to address workforce sustainability by fixing the system that surrounds the work, not just the people doing it.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

Identify how environmental friction contributes to clinician stress, inefficiency, and disengagement

Understand how layout, visibility, and task flow interact to shape performance and retention

Apply the inFORMed Approach™ (FLOW + FUNCTION minus FRICTION equals FORM) to align space, operations, and workforce sustainability

Evaluate how targeted environmental and workflow changes can improve performance without increasing capital or staffing costs

Healthcare organizations face increasing pressure to improve equity, patient experience, and operational performance, often within aging facilities and constrained capital environments. Yet many of the barriers affecting access, dignity, safety, and efficiency are not clinical or policy driven, but are embedded in the physical environments where care is delivered.

Drawing on more than 10 peer-reviewed studies and applied case work across more than 50 health systems globally, Dr. Lorissa MacAllister integrates lessons from rehabilitation environments to show how inclusive design measurably influences equity, experience, and operational performance. Rehabilitation settings, where patients actively navigate physical, cognitive, and sensory challenges, offer critical insights into how space can either amplify barriers or support independence, safety, and recovery.

Research and applied case studies demonstrate that environmental design decisions are associated with nearly 30 percent differences in satisfaction outcomes and operational improvements of up to 25 percent, including impacts on wayfinding, staff efficiency, patient stress, safety events, and care transitions. These effects extend beyond patient experience to workforce performance and system reliability.

In this session, participants examine how traditional healthcare environments unintentionally disadvantage certain populations while increasing operational friction for staff. Dr. MacAllister presents evidence-based strategies for identifying and eliminating physical and perceptual barriers across key clinical settings without requiring new construction or added staffing.

Rather than framing inclusion as a compliance exercise, this session positions inclusive design as a strategic lever for performance, equity, and value. Attendees leave with a practical framework for assessing their own environments, prioritizing high-impact changes, and aligning space, workflow, and care delivery to support all persons more effectively.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

Identify environmental barriers that negatively impact equity, patient experience, staff performance, and operational flow.

Explain how rehabilitation-based design principles can be applied across healthcare settings to support diverse physical, cognitive, sensory, and social needs.

Evaluate how inclusive design influences measurable outcomes, including satisfaction, safety, efficiency, and care delivery performance.

Apply evidence-based strategies to leverage existing space as a tool for independence, dignity, and high-performing care without increasing capital or staffing costs.

Instructional Format for Submission Forms

This session is structured as an instructional workshop designed to move participants from understanding to application in real time. The format follows a deliberate sequence of context, evidence, instruction, team application, and action to ensure immediate relevance and practical value.

25 percent instruction and evidence using peer-reviewed research and applied case studies

30 percent applied healthcare examples

30 percent facilitated small group work

15 percent action planning and discussion

Participants apply concepts directly to their own organizations, identifying high-impact touchpoints, assessing environmental barriers, and developing one to two actionable strategies they can implement immediately.

Ideal For

Facilities leaders, clinical leadership, DEI, quality and safety teams

Healthcare organizations are under increasing pressure to deliver equitable, high quality care while managing operational constraints, workforce strain, and aging facilities. et many barriers to effective care delivery are not clinical or financial. They are environmental. The physical care environment quietly shapes patient autonomy, staff efficiency, and the ability of care teams to deliver safe, dignified, and effective care.

Drawing on more than 10 peer reviewed studies and applied case work across more than 50 health systems globally, Dr. Lorissa MacAllister integrates lessons from rehabilitation environments to demonstrate how inclusive design measurably influences equity, experience, and operational performance. Rehabilitation settings, where patients actively navigate physical, cognitive, and sensory challenges, offer a uniquely rigorous lens for understanding how space either removes barriers or creates them.

Research presented shows that environmental variables such as layout clarity, visibility, proximity, and access to clinical resources are associated with nearly 30 percent differences in patient satisfaction outcomes, as well as measurable effects on staff stress, communication quality, safety events, and care efficiency. When environments are misaligned with human needs, patients compensate with dependence and confusion, while staff absorb friction through workarounds that increase fatigue and error risk.

This session reframes inclusive design from a compliance or accessibility exercise into a strategic tool for care delivery. Rather than focusing on capital intensive redesign, Dr. MacAllister equips healthcare leaders with a practical, evidence based framework to identify and remove environmental barriers already embedded within existing facilities and workflows.

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how the built environment can support independence, dignity, and performance. This improves outcomes for patients and care teams while strengthening organizational value.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

Identify common environmental barriers that affect patient autonomy, staff efficiency, and equity in care delivery

Explain how rehabilitation based design principles apply across acute, ambulatory, and inpatient healthcare settings

Evaluate how physical environments influence safety, experience, and operational performance using evidence based criteria

Apply practical strategies to reduce environmental friction and support inclusive, high performing care without increasing capital or staffing costs