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The 2006 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities has been reorganized to be more accessible, and updated to reflect current medical practice.
Since 1947, the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities has set minimum standards for American health care facility design. Today, these performances-oriented requirements give health care providers and design professionals guidance on good practice and emerging trends. The Joint Council on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), many federal agencies and authorities in 42 states use the Guidelines either as a code or a reference standard when reviewing, approving and financing plans; surveying, licensing, certifying or accrediting completed facilities; or developing their own codes.
The 2006 edition of Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities reorganizes and renumbers content according to facility type, standardizes language use and information categories, and introduces color to help users quickly find the information they need.
Responding to public input, the multidisciplinary Health Guidelines Revision Committee of the Facility Guidelines Institute made significant content updates.
Part 1 - General: (applicable to all health care facilities)
- Expansion of the environment of care chapter, including detailed functional program requirements and an appendix on green design.
- New material on infection control risk assessments (ICRAs) and infection control risk mitigation recommendations.
- A chapter on common requirements for all health care facility types.
Part 2 - Hospitals:
- Single-bed rooms as the minimum standard for typical nursing units in general hospitals.
- Revised bed clearances and new bedside documentation areas in critical care units.
- New section on intermediate care units in general hospitals, observation units in emergency departments, freestanding emergency facilities, and in-hospital skilled nursing units.
- Revised text for decontamination areas and appendix language on surge capacity in emergency departments.
- Revised section on in-hospital psychiatric nursing units.
- New chapter on small inpatient primary care hospitals.
Part 3 - Ambulatory Care Facilities:
- A chapter of common elements for outpatient facilities.
- Revised chapters on freestanding surgical facilities, birthing centers and primary care outpatient facilities.
- New chapters on urgent care facilities, office surgical facilities, gastrointestinal endoscopy facilities, renal dialysis centers and psychiatric outpatient centers.
Part 4 - Other Health Care Facilities:
- Revised chapter on nursing facilities.
- Completely new chapters on assisted living, hospice and adult day health care facilities.
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