Working with architects, hospital planners and ICU clinicians, and hospital solution groups, Critical Care Designs will look to engage in all phases of the ICU design process. Our overarching goal is to customize the ICU to the user (patients, providers, support staff and visitors) needs and to the hospital budget. We will also work with existing ICUs to enhance their overall functionality.
Critical Care Designs not only emphasizes ICU room set-up, efficiency of use, logistics, equipment, and of course patient care, but uses innovative ICU design concepts to improve staff well-being and family support. We will help incorporate advanced informatics systems into the ICU design to provide maximal IT performance. This includes applications for wired and wireless connectivity, local and remote e-ICU monitoring of bedside systems (mechanical ventilators, physiologic monitors, infusion pumps, webcams, time, etc.), the interfacing of disparate networks and systems, and the development of ICU electronic medical records. We also address the role of ICU design in infectious disease control and prophylaxes. Finally, we can help select the appropriate point of care testing (POCT) platforms for the ICU.
Dr. Halpern has helped design three ICUs, and has written and spoken extensively on ICU design, both in the US and in Europe. He is a member of the ICU Design Committee of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.