The project will set new standards in space efficiency and the innovative use of technology to support research and treatment, but will also offer an exceptional patient experience.

Neurological Institute Chair, Dr Machedo MD, PhD explains the role that technology can play in reassuring patients that they are in the best place:

“We want patients to perceive the building as a place where emerging solutions are offered and where they can participate in the development of treatments of the future. Most of the conditions we treat are currently incurable, so providing patients with hope and empowerment is important to the experiential side of the design as well”

That innovation and forward thinking approach has been built into the design from the outset. The inefficiencies of traditional care processes, such as manual data entry and patients’ need to repeat details of the reason for their visit to various members of their care team, have been designed out, with smart building technology used to improve patient experience. Dr. Machado explains:

“We realized that as a patient walks through the building, most aspects of their neurological examination could be acquired as they interact with the building and our caregivers. After all, the neurological exam is largely an exam of performance measures such as speed, reflexes, balance, cognitive function and language, many of which can be captured by sensors and wearables as a patient navigates the building”

Data capture can be uploaded to records before a patient’s formal visit even begins saving valuable time to focus on qualitative rather than quantitative patient interactions. Mindful of privacy, patients will be invited to consent to the innovation.

The new building will serve as a hub and connector of knowledge with a high level of digital connectivity between other Cleveland Clinic facilities worldwide including the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas and Cleveland Clinic hospitals in Florida, London and Abu Dhabi

These large-scale digital health capabilities can extend the depth of expertise to provide more subspecialized care elsewhere and help others with decision-making. The Cleveland Clinic’s Epilepsy Center in Cleveland currently allows for seizure activity in patients to be monitored 24/7 from around the world through sophisticated digital connectivity. The new neurological facility will enable the expansion of the service to offer similar distance health services at scale in additional subspecialty areas, providing expert care to as many people as possible.

With a focus on innovation and research, the Center will also include a new Discovery Space. Here  clinicians, scientists and engineers will collaborate across disciplines to develop and test new interventions, a critical interface between clinical care and research, and a significant draw for top talent. Says Dr Machado:

“We are charged with a dual mission.  We must do everything we can with what we have today for the patients in front of us now while also developing the neurological care of tomorrow. I believe this building and the talent that will inhabit it will enable discovery of the neurological care of the future.

This is where the future of neurological care will come from, and people will want to be part of that. That’s what excites me most!”