The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has published a new version of its Imaging Services Design Guide in collaboration with consulting firm Radiology-Planning (Rad-Planning).
The updated design guide, which was authored by Rad-Planning, serves as a free resource for the planning and designing of imaging facilities. It updates and combines three previous guides -- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and MRI -- that were also previously developed by Rad-Planning and published by the VA in 2008.
The document includes the development of planning criteria that reflect technical, operational, and clinical changes over the last 12 years, according to Rad-Planning. Specifically, the changes include the following:
- New imaging equipment types
- Prototypes that incorporate contemporary hospital design codes
- 3D drawings
- An increase in the number of rooms provided with the prototypes/templates
- Design accommodations for higher levels of acuity and intervention in radiology spaces
The nearly 600-page guide can be downloaded on the VA's website.
