The business case for better buildings.

Beginning in 2000, a research collaborative of progressive healthcare organizations came together with The Center for Health Design to evaluate the impact of their new buildings on patient outcomes. Those organizations are now engaged in three-year programs of evaluation, using comparative research instruments and outcome measures. Their experiences are synthesized here in a composite 300-bed "Fable Hospital" to present evidence in support of the business case for better buildings as a key component of better, safer, and less wasteful health care.