The Providence Health Equity Fund awarded a grant to explore design through a more equitable lens, focusing on emergency department waiting rooms as a key area for its initial study. These spaces are often the “front door” to hospitals and offer valuable data on patient experiences. In collaboration with NBBJ, Providence developed three key deliverables: (1) a tool to measure inclusive design features in existing facilities based on mixed-methods research, (2) benchmarking across eight emergency department waiting rooms, and (3) scalable design interventions as a vision for the “ideal” waiting room to fully encompass ambient belonging. By comparing these scores with metrics such as patients left without being seen, patient satisfaction assessment tools, custom surveys, and insights from community workshops, the team explored connections between inclusive design and key financial drivers. This session will be a combined presentation and participatory workshop where you’ll learn about the development of the healthcare equity measurement tool, envision what inclusive waiting room design could look like, and discover how design choices influence the business side of healthcare systems. You’ll also gain practical insights into applying inclusive design principles to your own practice and help co-create the next evolution of the design intervention matrix.