--- title: Inside the Hospital Room of the Future description: Find out what inpatient care might look like by the year 2020 canonical: https://time.com/3833111/inside-hospital-room-future/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-23T16:57:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:07:50.808Z article:section: Health og:title: Inside the Hospital Room of the Future og:description: Find out what inpatient care might look like by the year 2020 og:url: https://time.com/3833111/inside-hospital-room-future/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42c55061a068e705/6987ec8c2dce0152fc9e175b/hospital.jpg?branch=production&width=834&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 834 og:image:height: 469 og:image:alt: hospital og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Inside the Hospital Room of the Future twitter:description: Find out what inpatient care might look like by the year 2020 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42c55061a068e705/6987ec8c2dce0152fc9e175b/hospital.jpg?branch=production&width=834&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Inside the Hospital Room of the Future > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=aa3d96ca-ac85-4e36-b44e-cbef2eac0512&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inside the Hospital Room of the Future [Watch (HLS stream): Inside the Hospital Room of the Future](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P97A4hyW.m3u8) (3:39)  _Published 2015-04-23. With built-in lighting control and smart TV integration, Patient Room 2020 is designed to show what the future of hospitals might look like._ by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Apr 23, 2015 4:57 PM UTC With built-in lighting control and smart TV integration, Patient Room 2020 is designed to show what the future of hospitals might look like. by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Apr 23, 2015 4:57 PM UTC ## Transcript [00:05] We are sitting in patient room 2020 which is a look [00:09] forward to where the patient might be in the year [00:12] 2020. The space here is really to help facilitate the [00:14] delivery of care, make it more streamlined, make it [00:17] more efficient. I think when you look at patient rooms [00:20] in the past sort of said they were the future, look at [00:22] patient healthcare. It's a different color paint and [00:25] different color flooring. This really takes a better look [00:29] at where the industry's heading and it's really [00:31] technologically driven. Ideally, you don't want to be in a [00:34] hospital but if you find yourself in one you want to [00:37] know that it's clean, you're being well taken care of, [00:39] the environment is comfortable. One of the thing you [00:42] notice right away is how wide open the bathroom is. [00:45] And so in this case, rolling a wheelchair in where you [00:47] have complete accessibility is important. And then, [00:50] even the shower itself starts to be customizable. One [00:54] of the big things is patient safety. So in the design of [00:57] this space that was one of the major aspects we [01:00] looked at. The floor that we're actually standing on has [01:03] a computer mat underneath here and it can track your [01:05] footsteps. So as a patient puts their feet on the [01:08] ground, or in the unfortunate act that they might fall [01:11] out of the bed, it immediately detects that and sends [01:14] alarms back to the clinician workspace. The other [01:18] great idea is the computer. The clinician comes in and [01:22] brings down the board. And so you can sit here and [01:24] do your entries, converse with the patient that's right [01:27] here, and when this closes, the UV lights kill any kind [01:31] of germs that might be present. And so this is the, [01:34] really, the big customizable piece right here. We have [01:37] lighting, but then it might have the future of computer [01:39] systems, Wi- Fi is built into this system for your phones [01:43] and for telemedicine and for future robotics and things [01:46] like that that connect out. Into the hallway and, and [01:49] back to the nurse stations. [ MUSIC ] This is the [01:52] bedside table. This is really the patient's link to the [01:56] entire room. This has a built- in iPad that connects you [02:00] to this patient ribbon. Obviously do the simple things [02:03] like nurse call. Connects you to the outside world [02:06] through Skype and your television. Or things like a halo [02:10] effect. For noise cancellation it goes over your head. If [02:13] you think of all the dings and noises in a hospital, [02:16] patient satisfaction rates is another thing that should [02:18] go up. You can create your own mood. Patient can put [02:22] it into a night mode that'll start dropping the lights [02:26] down. This halo here is completely customizable. So [02:28] you can start with a very bright space for doing an [02:31] exam. Or it can go into a mode that you see passing [02:36] clouds, or the blue sky. And this is also the link to the [02:40] connectivity for clinicians as well. And you can see [02:42] results. You can see your vitals. It's really about [02:45] drawing in the patient and the outside world into ones [02:48] experience that can be controlled right from the bed. [02:53] It's almost empowering the patient I think, if you get [02:55] beyond the techknowledgey and the different look. It's [02:57] really empowering the patient to be more active in [03:00] their health care, delivery of care, interact with [03:03] clinicians a little bit easier. If you've ever spent time in [03:06] a hospital either as a patient or as a visitor, one of the [03:09] first things you look at is the cleanliness of it, and the [03:12] lighting of the space. And I think this room here, the [03:15] patient room 2020 really kinda changes that mood [03:17] almost, of a patient. The basic core of this was to start [03:22] a dialogue and to make change in the industry. If we [03:25] even have one element in here that is incorporated into [03:28] a hospital, that's a success. 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