Digestive Health Center Video: Transformation through 3P design

Planning for Stanford’s new Digestive Health Center involved not only the patients and doctors who’ll use the facility but also life-sized cardboard mock-ups of proposed spaces. You heard that right: Stanford built actual reception areas, hallways and exam rooms out of cardboard to test specific ideas and processes.

The approach opened up the opportunity to troubleshoot on the spot and also to create ideal workflows. The creative thinking is part of the 3P design process staff and faculty used to conceptualize the new center. The three “P’s” – production, preparation and process – engaged participants in exercises that solicited innovative thinking. “It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” says Jenine Golueke of Stanford Health Care, “to design the work the way you always thought it should be and then have the opportunity to move into this new space and function like that.”

When completed, the Digestive Health Center will not only allow Stanford to provide a level of GI care that’s currently not available in the Bay Area but also to boost physician and staff engagement and increase patient satisfaction. James Hereford, chief operating officer, says the collaborative nature of the design process required an intensive effort at the front end to make sure they got it right. He believes it is worth it: “Every indication is that this will be a much higher performing, much more satisfying center because of the blend of knowledge sets within this methodology.”

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