The Facility Guidelines Institute opened the 2018 FGI Guidelines public proposal period on June 23.
Until Oct. 15, 2015, changes may be proposed to any portion of the text in the 2014 FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Outpatient Facilities and Guidelines for Design and Construction of Residential Health, Care, and Support Facilities. As part of this process, the public is asked to provide their take on the costs and benefits of proposals they submit, using an optional cost/benefit comment box and a required cost/benefit matrix. The FGI Cost/Benefit Committee will review all proposals and make recommendations to the Health Guidelines Revision Committee, the body responsible for updating the content of the Guidelines.
The 2018 Guidelines revision cycle will yield three Guidelines documents—one for hospitals, one for outpatient facilities and one for residential health, care and support facilities. To support the development process for the three documents, an electronic proposal system has been created for each book. To submit your proposals, please visit the appropriate FGI electronic proposal system:
Hospitals: www.fgiguidelines.net/proposals_H
Outpatient facilities: www.fgiguidelines.net/proposals_OP
Residential health, care and support facilities: www.fgiguidelines.net/proposals_RES
“We encourage users of the FGI Guidelines documents to submit proposals that address any issues with the Guidelines text that they have encountered in the field,” says HGRC Chair Douglas Erickson. “User experience is a primary source of information to help refine our requirements so they function well in practice.”
For the 2018 revision cycle, FGI has taken two steps to focus the work of the HGRC. First, the HGRC has been directed to move all non-baseline Guidelines text into a beyond fundamental series of publications. To support this effort, FGI funded a research project to identify existing Guidelines content that goes beyond fundamental requirements for design of a safe and effective environment of care. Submitted proposals that are determined to suggest changes that go beyond fundamental design requirements for safe, effective and efficient facilities will be held for consideration during the development of these new publications.
As well, FGI tasked the HGRC Steering Committee with identifying topics that need particular attention during the 2018 revision cycle. The topics that were identified are acoustics, bariatric accommodations, emergency preparedness, infection prevention, security, sustainability and technology. The topic previously termed “geriatric accommodations” has been redefined as “universal design for the continuum of care,” with the intention of supporting “health, wellness, and preventive care” for all, including those who may have mobility and vision impairments. Members of the healthcare industry with expertise in these topics have been invited to participate in online groups to help with this effort. If you are interested, send a message with your credentials and expertise to info@fgiguidelines.org.
