Evidence-Based Design and Liability Risks for Health Care Organizations

Since the 1980s, science about how built environments influence human health has been used by architects, engineers, and designers to inform decisions about health care organizations' structures and spaces. Because design influences health outcomes, ignoring evidence-based design can be a source of clinical, ethical, legal, and organizational liability. This article introduces concepts related to designs' influence on patient and community health outcomes and suggests strategies for health-legal partnering to promote rigor in health care organizational design practices that promote quality and equity in health service delivery.