What Will the Operating Room of the Future Look Like?

In many hospitals and ASCs across the country, the design of the operating room has not caught up with advances in medical technology. A new research team at Clemson University aims to change that by rethinking OR design in a way that enhances both patient safety and surgical efficiency.

Backed by $1 million in grant funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the one-of-a-kind research team includes architects, design researchers, engineers, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses. In particular, the researchers will be looking to reduce surgical site infections by exploring evidence-based design concepts. 

"Poor surgical outcomes can rarely be blamed on a single cause and are far more likely to be the result of a combination of reasons, some of which are inherent in the setting," says lead researcher Anjali Joseph, PhD, EDAC. "Studying the big picture is the goal of our team."

The team will test and refine OR design ideas from a research lab in Charleston, S.C. The final approved design will be implemented at a new ASC for the Medical University of South Carolina.

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