New guidelines to call for private rooms in hospitals

Once considered a luxury, private rooms may become the standard in hospitals nationwide. That's because, for the first time, experts are recommending single-patient rooms for most new hospital construction, according to The Wall Street Journal (3/22/2006).

The "driving-force" behind the recommendation, by the nonprofit Facilities Guidelines Institute and the American Institute of Architects' Academy of Architecture for Health, is the need to improve patient safety and economics. Among the advantages of the single-occupancy room model:

The guidelines, which are updated every 4 years, are used by states to set regulations, approve construction, and license hospitals to operate. The latest guidelines are supposed to be released this month.