hospital visit report

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How to Write a Visit Report

Last Updated: March 30, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Madison Boehm . Madison Boehm is a Business Advisor and the Co-Founder of Jaxson Maximus, a men’s salon and custom clothiers based in southern Florida. She specializes in business development, operations, and finance. Additionally, she has experience in the salon, clothing, and retail sectors. Madison holds a BBA in Entrepreneurship and Marketing from The University of Houston. This article has been viewed 678,401 times.

Whether you’re a student or a professional, a visit report helps you document the procedures and processes at an industrial or corporate location. These reports are fairly straightforward. Describe the site first and explain what you did while you were there. If required, reflect on what you learned during your visit. No additional research or information is needed.

Writing a Visit Report

Explain the site's purpose, operations, and what happened during the visit. Identify the site's strengths and weaknesses, along with your recommendations for improvement. Include relevant photos or diagrams to supplement your report.

Describing the Site

• Reports are usually only 2-3 pages long, but in some cases, these reports may be much longer.
• In some cases, you may be asked to give recommendations or opinions about the site. In other cases, you will be asked only to describe the site.
• Ask your boss or instructor for models of other visit reports. If you can't get a model, look up samples online.

• If you visited a factory, explain what it is producing and what equipment it uses.
• If you visited a construction site, describe what is being constructed and how far along the construction is. You should also describe the terrain of the site and the layout.
• If you’re visiting a business, describe what the business does. State which department or part of the business you visited.
• If you’re visiting a school, identify which grades they teach. Note how many students attend the school. Name the teachers whose classes you observed.

• Who did you talk to? What did they tell you?
• What did you see at the site?
• What events took place? Did you attend a seminar, Q&A session, or interview?
• Did you see any demonstrations of equipment or techniques?

• For example, at a car factory, describe whether the cars are made by robots or humans. Describe each step of the assembly line.
• If you're visiting a business, talk about different departments within the business. Describe their corporate structure and identify what programs they use to conduct their business.

Reflecting on Your Visit

• Is there something you didn’t realize before that you learned while at the site?
• Who at the site provided helpful information?
• What was your favorite part of the visit and why?

• For example, you might state that the factory uses the latest technology but point out that employees need more training to work with the new equipment.
• If there was anything important left out of the visit, state what it was. For example, maybe you were hoping to see the main factory floor or to talk to the manager.

• Tailor your recommendations to the organization or institution that owns the site. What is practical and reasonable for them to do to improve their site?
• Be specific. Don’t just say they need to improve infrastructure. State what type of equipment they need or give advice on how to improve employee morale.

Formatting Your Report

• If you are following a certain style guideline, like APA or Chicago style, make sure to format the title page according to the rules of the handbook.

• Don’t just say “the visit was interesting” or “I was bored.” Be specific when describing what you learned or saw.

Sample Visit Report

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• ↑ http://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/471286/Site_Reports_for_Engineers_Update_051112.pdf
• ↑ https://www.examples.com/business/visit-report.html
• ↑ https://www.thepensters.com/blog/industrial-visit-report-writing/
• ↑ https://eclass.aueb.gr/modules/document/file.php/ME342/Report%20Drafting.pdf

About This Article

To write a visit report, start by including a general introduction that tells your audience where and when you visited, who your contact was, and how you got there. Once you have the introduction written out, take 1 to 2 paragraphs to describe the purpose of the site you visited, including details like the size and layout. If you visited a business, talk about what the business does and describe any specific departments you went to. Then, summarize what happened during your visit in chronological order. Make sure to include people you met and what they told you. Toward the end of your report, reflect on your visit by identifying any strengths and weaknesses in how the site operates and provide any recommendations for improvement. For more help, including how to format your report, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Writing a Report – Visit to the Hospital

Mar 15, 2020 | Report Writing | 15 |

Write a report Extended students 150-200 words – 8 Marks for Content and 8 Marks for Language Core Students 100-150 words – 6 Marks for Content and 6 Marks for Language

Model Answer Past paper question

The trip to the big hospital in our city was a truly enlightening and educational experience. The highlight of the visit was the tour of the various departments, where we got to see how a hospital operates and the different specialties that work together to provide patient care.

We had the opportunity to visit the emergency room, where we saw how the staff worked efficiently and calmly under pressure to attend to patients with various medical emergencies. We also had the chance to see the operating rooms, where we witnessed the latest surgical technologies in action and learned about the important role that sterilization plays in preventing infections.

In addition, we learned about the different types of imaging tests, such as X-rays and MRIs, that are used to diagnose medical conditions. We also had the opportunity to interact with some of the medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, who answered our questions and provided us with valuable insights into their careers.

Overall, the trip to the big hospital was an eye-opening experience that gave us a deeper understanding of how a hospital function and the important role that each department plays in delivering quality healthcare. I would highly recommend this trip to other classes as it provides a great opportunity to learn about the healthcare system and the different careers in the field.

About The Author

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A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL – REPORT

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15 comments.

TRIP TO HOSPITAL

INTRODUCTION This report is based on a trip to a big hospital in our city called “IGMH” last week. This report will highlight mostly on the events that occured during the event and the reccomendations to improve the next trip. This report is submitted to the class teacher.

THE TRIP The whole trip was mostly based on seeing the doctors in action and the doctors giving us talks about their career. They even showed how to talk to patients and how to conduct some tests.

The trip was over all exciting. But the most exciting and the highlight of the trip was getting to watch a doctor in action. The doctor was doing a surgery of a heart and for biology students it benefits a lot.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECCOMENDATIONS

Even though the whole trip helped the students, the time give for the trip is too limited and short. Some of the students were unable to take notes and understand also.

So all of the students reccomend to exceed the time limit given for the student for the next year.

In conclusion, the overall trip was help ful. A student says “I get scared whenever i am in a hospital, but tgis trip helped me to over come it”. The whole trip benefited us even thought the trip was short.

THE HOSPITAL TRIP REPORT BY Zayin INTRODUCTION Recently, our class went a trip to a big hospital in our city. This trip was conducted by our school management for the students who are studying in grade 10, to make them aware about how the equipment of the hospital works and why those equipment are important. The principle purpose of this to highlight the events of our class visit to the hospital and explain why it is other classes. THE VISIT We went to the hospital as part of our lesson on last weekend. As we entered into the hospital, innumerable number of people were involving in varied activities. There was a person chosen from the management of the hospital to give information to us about the treatment they give in the hospital. Then he took us to the laboratory of the hospital and showed us some laboratory equipment that they use to do various experiments. After that he took us to the dialysis room where dialysis patients get their treatment. When we saw them we were very emotional because of the hard time they going through. Then we all went to the national cardio center where they treat people with heart related problems. We were mesmerized after seeing the huge machines they use in there. Finally, we went to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where they treat people in critical condition but we were not allowed to go inside that place. RECOMMENDATION Overall everyone who participated in this was elated after the trip as they got to see various equipment they use in the hospital and we learned so much about it, so I recommend it to other classes as it is worth going to a hospital for a class trip.

Trip to IGMH INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to highlight the events occured during the trip to IGMH, where our class had to gather information for a lesson. In this report, it also gives reason why it is recommended for other classes to go to this hospital.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE VISIT During our visit, we saw many doctors and nurses rushing through the lobby to get to patients rooms and to do their other duties. We waited in the lobby where we met an expert doctor who was our guide. He was friendly and had rich knowledge about many areas in the medical field. We were able to see doctors and nurses working together and using high-tech medical equipment to treat patients as well as experience how they use said machines. We were also given information and advice on how to deal with patients with different backgrounds, illnesses etc.

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION Overall, the trip was exciting and informative as we got to learn a lot about the world of medicine and see doctors in different fields in action. I recommend other classes to visit IGMH if they wish to get a first person experience of what and how it is like to work in the medical field.

– 199 words –

Report: A trip to the hospital Introduction Recently my class has gone on a field trip to one of the most successful hospital in our country which is known as Tree Top hospital. The purpose of writing this report is to highlight the events which had occurred during the trip, also to give some recommendation on how to improve this trip next time. Events of the trip As soon as we arrived at the hospital two staff who work at the hospital greeted us with a polite smile and directed us towards a room and distributed the students into groups. After that students were taken separately for a small tour of the hospital with at least 2 teachers with a group along with a hospital staff who, gave students information about the hospital during the tour. After finishing the small tour of the hospital the group of students were separately taken to the general ward of the hospital to visit some of the patients without disturbing them too much. Furthermore after that students were visited by senior cardiologist working in the hospital who gave students some information on how the human heart works and showed the students a video of a heart transplant surgery which happened at the hospital. Conclusion The trip provided students a variety of information however, the field trip was quite short so students were not able to clear some doubts. I recommend the school to arrange the field trip for a longer period of time next year.

This report is based on a trip grade 10 students visit to our city hospital Muli regional hospital (MRH) last Sunday. Although, we mostly saw the doctors and nurses working together,they also give us information about there career. Also the doctors shows us how they get ready for any surgeries. Another point, they told us how to talk to patients family if the surgery is a success or a loss. Furthermore, doctors also talk us how to react in emergency situation and complicated times. The most highlighting point is they show us a vedio of a surgery. However, the doctors talk very fast. Some students did not understand few things. Also the time was very short we did not saw every where. So many students recommend to take a nother trip and have enough time to understand and take notes. To conclude the trip was enjoyable. Some students ware scared to see the video of the surgery. The whole trip teaches us many thing even it was fast though.

A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL This report is about the trip we had to the big hospital in our city, written upon the request of our teacher.This includes highlights from the hospital and reasons for recommendation to other classes. INTRODUCTION The trip mostly revolved around the equipment used in hospitals and different methods of treating patients and after they gave us a few lectures on how the machines work we saw a few demonstrations like MRI(Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and a few other machines.

We also got to hear a doctor explain why he chose this career path how he got here and some difficulties he faced getting to where he is now.But Above all it is without a doubt that the main highlight of this trip would be that we got to see a live surgery.There was a man that had to get stitches on his arm as he had got into an accident.Although we had to stay behind a pane of glass there was no doubt that all of us were interested and enjoyed the trip altogether.

RECOMMENDATION The information we learned at the hospital can prove to be an asset and will definitely give a benefit no matter who learns it so the other classes should also get a chance to go on this fabulous trip. CONCLUSION The trip was very interesting and we learned a lot of information in the short time that was available to us and we definitely didn’t feel bored as time for lectures were not too long and demonstrations were not too short and every student that had attended had learned something new and they would surely come again if given the opportunity.

A trip to the hospital INTRODUCTION

The following report purports summarise our findings during our class visit to the big Tree top hospital in our local city the past week. This report will highlight the events that occurred during our visit and followed by recommendations for the next trip conducted by the school.

First and foremost we were given a tour of the large medical facility and a demonstration of the medical equipment. After which we were allowed to follow selected doctors of throughout their daily medical tasks such as surgeries and checkups. We are granted the opportunity to see these heroes in action as doctors and nurses worked together to offer help and relief to the patients.

Secondly we were given a briefing by a board of doctors for students interested in following career paths in the medical sector either as doctors and nurses. The doctors took great care in weighting the pros and cons of a life in this sector.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In a nutshell this trip was helpful and fruitful. However the time given for us was limited therefore the trip was hasty. Therefore it is the suggestions of students to make this a full day trip rather than a half day trip.

Last week our class visited Newlife hospital. One of the biggest, most developed hospitals in our city. The purpose of this report is to highlight the main events that occurred during the visit. The visit was organized by the science department of our class as part of a project on medical equipment. We arrived at Newlife hospital around 10:30 in the morning and we’re met by the director of the hospital Mr. Ahmed Ali. At first, we were shown a small presentation about the hospital followed by the talk of the director. After that, we had a tour of the hospital under the supervision of hospital staffs The most exciting part of the visit was seeing a live surgery done by the doctors. We also managed to study fascinating facts about different types of machinery and equipment that are used in different laboratories In conclusion, students were amazed to learn new information on medical equipment. However, a large number of students felt that the visit was too short. I suggest that next year’s hospital visit should be well balanced

Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Report by: Shaffa Introduction. On 13th March our class went on a trip to the “Chang Gung Memorial Hospital”. The purport of this report is to highlight the main aim of the visit and to suggest why it is recommended for other classes. The Trip The trip was mainly aimed for grade 10 science stream students, as this will help them when they choose their career after their exams. First of all, the CEO gave a brief introduction about the hospital and its history. Then, the doctors showed us how the machines are worked and how important their job actually is. They also gave a good impression on the students when they had friendly conversations with their patients. What most of the students found truly eye-catching was a doctor was giving surgery to a heart patient. Some of the students also got to assist them at their work. After the tour, we were given a small test the diagnose our what we have learnt. Conclusion All in all, the trip was very informative and enjoyable. I highly recommend this trip to other classes as this will be great when you take up your career. I personally believe that grade 8 classes should get these opportunities more as it will help them when they take up their streams.

Visit to the hospital Report by:Enaash

Introduction

This report purports to highlight the events occured and what we learned from the visit to “IGMH” which is a well-known hospital in our city and to suggest how the visit could be improved.

Our class which is of twenty students had a thirty minutes visit to “IGMH” last Thursday. This acclaimed hospital was colossal and we were thrilled by the means of improved services of the hospital as we reached our destination. We were enthusiastic to see how doctors and nurses were actively engaged in their works. Moreover, we got the opportunity to interview some of the doctors regarding their career.

The overall visit was considerable. However, the visit intervened our school session. Further more, the visit was too short as the duration was thirty minutes.

Recommendation

I am of the opinion that the duration of the visit should be extended to at least one hour. Also, it would be more effective to visit the hospital during weekends as it would not intervene our school session.

AMINATH MAISA REPORT: A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL

Introduction: Recently all the students of grade 10 went on a school trip to ADK hospital. This report aims to highlight the details and present what we learned from the whole trip. About the trip: As we arrived in the hospital, we were asked to choose a medical section we would like to see. A vast majority of students went with the operating room while a significant number of students decided to see the laboratory. In the operating room the students were stunned as they witnessed doctors and nurses working together with all the high-tech medical equipments. A doctor explained clearly how each equipment was used. Moreover students that decided to go to the laboratory were even allowed to handle some equipments and test them. Suggestions: Eventhough we managed to study fascinating facts, many students felt that the overall time for the trip was too short. Perhaps we could consider asking for more time in the next trip. Furthermore a number of students found that the teachers could have organised the schedule in a better way. This way none of the students will get lost and have a better sense of where they should be at the right time. Conclusion: All things considered the trip was really useful. We all got insight into the important medical things. For the reasons I have mentioned I highly recommend other classes having this kind of trip to a big hospital.

A visit to the hospital Recently our IGCSE english class went to the city hospital to know how the hospitak is functioned Firstly we went to the reception and our english teacher sought the permission for the visit. Then we went to the labourtary. The labourtary technician showed us how the machineries works and the procedure of blood testing. Next we visited the x-ray room. After wards we were taken to the wards. And there were so many patients lying on the bed. Finally we visited to the emergency room. They all were fully hygined. Also the staffs were very friendly to each other. Furthermore, the staffs of the hospital were very patient to the patients. The hospital facilities and services is very good. It would have been better if we get more time to spend in the hospital and to ask question about the hospital

TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to highlight what we learned during the trip to ADK, where our class had to gather information for a lesson. The purpose of writing this report is to highlight the events which had occurred during the trip, also to give some recommendations on how to improve our next trip. Almost all the students went on this trip. THE TRIP The whole trip is mostly based on seeing doctors in action and the doctors giving out their information’s about their career. They also showed how to talk to a patient and how to conduct some tests. we went separately to different places of the hospital so our one of the classmate said that he saw doctors and nurses working together and using all that high-tech medical equipment to treatment. Even one our classmate had fear of visiting a doctor, but after this experience has changed him completely. SUGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS I suggest for next trip we all want to see all the places all together not in different groups so we can see all the things. As all of us was in different group they saw something else and we saw something else. And their recommendations was really good.

Last week our class visited TTS hospital. One of the biggest, most developed hospitals in our city. The purpose of this report is to highlight the main events that occurred during the visit. The visit was organized by the school for our class as part of a project on medical equipment. As we arrived in the hospital, we were asked to choose a medical section we would like to see. A vast majority of students went with the operating room while a significant number of students decided to see the laboratory. In the operating room the students were stunned as they witnessed doctors and nurses working together with all the high-tech medical equipments. A doctor explained clearly how each equipment was used. Moreover students that decided to go to the laboratory were even allowed to handle some equipments and test them.

Introduction; The main aim of this report is to higlight about our trip to ADK hospital as a part of our biology studies and also to present the importance of recommending ot to other classes. The Visit; First of all, we were really fascinated to see an extremely developed hospital and, a vast majority of students were stunned to see the arrangements of the hospital. Moreover, we met specialists in different medical fields and got to clear some of our doubts from the topics of biology related to medical science. Also, the manager gave a tour of the overall hospital so we got a clear view of how the hospital runs. Furthermore, we saw the various types of machines and got to know the uses and how it works. Many students got emotional by seeing the patients and made dua for their recovery. Moreover, we were excited to meet the staff and workers of the hospital and they were helpful and kind ,which made our trip much more comfortable. We found that the hospital was hygiene and the staff took good care of the patients. We also got to interview some of the patients according to the disease they are suffering from so that we can get to know the symptoms and the way they handle the disease more clearly. Conclusion; To sum up we can say this was really a useful visit for us as biology students. I strongly recommend this trip to other classes also if the students are interested in medical field ,because this could be a helpful guideline for the students interested in this field.

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Guide to Conducting Healthcare Facility Visits

by Craig Zimring, Ph.D. Georgia Institute of Technology

Published by The Center for Health Design, 1994

INTRODUCTION

A major medical center is building a new diagnostic and treatment center that will include both inpatient services and expensive high technology outpatient services The center is considering whether to provide day surgery within the diagnostic and treatment center or in a freestanding outpatient facility. They are facing a dilemma. If they locate the day surgery center separately, they can use lower-cost construction. If they combine the functions, they can use the spare capacity that will likely become available in the inpatient operating rooms. This is especially important as outpatient procedures become increasingly complex. The center wishes to evaluate sites that currently operate in fully separate facilities versus ones that provide separate outpatient and inpatient reception and recovery facilities, but share operating rooms.

A large interiors firm has been contacted to conduct a visit of several new children’s hospitals in the Northwest. Eager to get the commission from this major hospital corporation to renovate the interior of a large children’s hospital, the firm arranges visits of hospitals it has designed as well as two designed by other firms.

An architecture firm is renovating a large medical laboratory in an existing building which has a minimal 11-foot-3-inch floor-to-floor height. Concerned that the client may not understand the implications of this tight dimension-which means that the fume hood ventilation system can not easily be installed within this space-the architects arrange visits of other labs with similar floor-to-floor heights, change in healthcare and society is rapid and increasingly unpredictable, bringing an unprecedented level of risk for healthcare organizations facing new projects. This guide discusses a specific tool that healthcare organizations and design professionals can use to help manage uncertainty: the facility visit. In almost every healthcare project someone-client, designer, or client-design team-visits other facilities to help them prepare for the project. A probing, well structured, and well run visit can highlight the range of possible design and operational alternatives, pinpoint potential problems, and build a design team that works together effectively over the course of a design project. It can help a team creatively break their existing paradigms for their current project and can provide a pool of experience that can inform other projects. All of these can help reduce risk for healthcare organizations.

However, current facility visits are often ineffective. They are frequently conducted quite casually, despite the rigor of much other healthcare planning and design. Visits are often costly—$40,000 or more-yet they often fall short of their potential. Sites are often chosen without careful consideration, little attention is given to clarifying the purpose or methods of visits, there is often little wrap-up, and frequently no final report is prepared. Not only is the money devoted to the visit frequently not used most effectively, the visit presents important opportunities to learn and to build a design team. These opportunities are too often squandered.

This guide focuses on what a facility field visit can accomplish and suggests ways to achieve these goals. Although a facility visit may occur in a variety of circumstances, including the redesign of the process of healthcare without any redesign of the physical setting, this guide focuses on situations in which architectural or interior design is being contemplated or is in process.

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

The goals of this project were to learn about the existing practice of conducting healthcare facility visits, to learn about the potential for extending their rigor and effectiveness, and to develop and test a new approach. We interviewed over 40 professionals in the fields of healthcare and design from every region of the US, including interior designers, architects, and clients who had participated in design projects, and healthcare professionals who conduct visits of their own facilities. We sampled professionals from large and small design firms, and from large and small medical organizations. To get a picture of both “average” and “excellent” practice we randomly selected members from professional organizations such as the AIA Academy on Architecture for Health and the American Society of Hospital Engineers, and augmented these with firms and individuals who were award winners or were recommended to us by top practitioners. We developed a multi-page questionnaire that probed the participants’ experiences with visits, including their reasons for participating, their methods, and how they used the information produced. We faxed each participant the questionnaire, then followed up with an interview on the phone or in person. The interviews averaged about one-and-a-half hours in length. Every person we initially contacted participated in an interview. Everyone in our sample had participated in some sort of visit of healthcare facilities within the past year.

After conducting the interviews we developed, field tested, and revised a new facility visit method, which is presented in this guide. Throughout this process we conferred with select members of the Research Committee of The Center for Health Design and the Project Advisory Board.

GOALS OF FACILITY VISITS

There are many reasons for doing a facility visit and many different kinds of visits. However, visits roughly fall into three categories: specific visits, departmental visits and general visits. Specific visits focus on particular issues such as the design of patient room headwalls, nursing stations, or gift shops; departmental visits focus on learning about the operations and design of whole departments such as outpatient imaging or neonatal intensive care; general visits are concerned with issues relevant to a whole institution, such as how to restructure operations to become patient-focused. Usually, departmental and general visits occur during programming or schematic design; specific visits often occur during design development, when decisions are being made about materials, finishes and equipment.

More broadly, there are several general reasons for conducting visits: learning about state-of-the art facilities; thinking about projects in new ways; and creating an effective design team.

LEARNING ABOUT STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES

Visit participants want to learn what excellent organizations in their field, both competitors and other organizations, are doing. Participants are often particularly interested in learning how changes in business, technology or demographics, such as increased focus on outpatient facilities or increased criticality of inpatients, might affect their own operations and design. For example, in Story 1, below, a UK team was interested in grafting US experience onto a UK healthcare culture. In another example, hospital personnel at Georgia’s St. Joseph’s Hospital visited five emergency rooms over the course of several weeks before implementing an “express” service of their own. According to planner Greg Barker (Jay Farbstein & Associates, CA) they “use site visits as a method of exposing the clients to a broader range of operating philosophies and methods.” This gives the clients and design professionals a common frame of reference on which to base critical operational and design decisions.

William Headley, North Durham Acute Hospitals, UK

Traditionally, hospital design in the UK has been established centrally, with considerable emphasis placed on standard departmental areas and on a standardized planning format known as “Nucleus.” The 20-year-old Nucleus system is based on a standard cruciform template of approximately 1,000 square meters housing a multitude of departments, which can be interlinked to provide the nucleus of a District General Hospital.

Durham wished to develop a hospital that in its vision would meet the challenges of the 21st Century, and produce a custom-designed hospital solution built to suit the needs of the patient, not just individual departments.

The brief has, therefore, to be developed from a blank sheet of paper and not from standard guidelines. It is also the Trust’s objective to have the brief developed by staff from the bottom up. The purpose of the study tour was to allow frontline staff the opportunity to experience new ideas firsthand and talk to their medical counterparts about some of the philosophies of patient-focused care and to input their findings into the briefing process. We acknowledged the differences in the US and UK healthcare systems, but were interested in ensuring that best US practices, including the patient focused approach, facilities design, and the use of state of the art equipment, was studied and subsequently tailored to suit the new North Durham hospital.

THINKING ABOUT A PROJECT IN A NEW WAY

Participants who are currently engaged in a design or planning project are concerned with using visits to advance their own project. They use a visit to analyze innovative ideas and to help open the design team to new ideas. At the same time they are interested in building consensus on a preferred option. In Story 2, below, a hospital serves as a frequent visit host because it shows how special bay designs can be used in neonatal intensive care, and participants can consider how these designs apply to their current project. Other visit organizers see a visit as an opportunity for focusing the team on key decisions that need to be made, or to help the team focus in a systematic way on a range of strategic options and critical constraints. The visit exposes each team member to a variety of ways of accomplishing a similar program of requirements and thus starts the debate on how to achieve the best results for the facility being designed.

Georgia Brogdon, Vice President Operations, Gwinnett Women’s Pavilion, GA

We get visitors at our facility about once per month. Right now the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) is the most frequently visited location. The main reason is that Ohmeda uses our unit as a showcase for a special design of NICU bays. People want to see it because most think that Hill Rom is the only vendor of this type of equipment.

Early on, we were also one of the only state-of-the-art LDR facilities around. So if people wanted to visit an LDR unit, they had little choice but to come here. Now, however, people come to see us because we are a freestanding yet still attached facility. Over time the visits have evolved away from the design of the facility and more into programming, services, and operational issues.

We give three types of visits: 1) overview visits for lay people who just want to come see the area; 2) functional visits for other hospital people or architects who want to see the LDR design, mother/baby floor, NICU design, etc.; 3) operational flow visits to learn how the LDR concept impacts operations. In general, we start the visitors wherever the patient would start in the facility.

To arrange a successful visit of our facility, we need to know the interests of the visitors; then we can focus the schedule on that. Also knowing who they are bringing is helpful. You need to have their counterparts available. The types of information needed to conduct facility visits are: 1) what specific operational information to ask for in advance-size, number of rooms, number of physicians, staffing, C-section rate, whether they are a trauma center; 2) how to prepare for the visit; 3) who to bring. We’ve found that periodically the visitors are disappointed because they didn’t bring enough people. Better to have too many than not enough.

CREATING AN EFFECTIVE DESIGN TEAM

Participants use visits as an opportunity for team building. Many visits are conducted early in a design project by a team who will work together for several years. The visit provides participants a useful opportunity to get to know each other and to build an effective team. As Story 3 illustrates, clients often look to a visit to see how well designers can understand their needs; designers use it as a way to learn about their clients and to mutually explore new ideas. A visit can also provide an opportunity for medical programmers to work with designers and clients. This is particularly important if programming and design are done by different firms.

Many visit participants focus on interpersonal issues: spending several days with someone helps build a personal relationship that one can rely on during a multi-year project. A visit also provides the opportunity to achieve other aspects of team building: clarifying values, goals, roles and expertise of individual participants; and identifying conflicts early so they can be resolved. One result for some teams is that it establishes a common vocabulary of operational and facility terms translated to the local healthcare facility.

Bing Zillmer, Director Engineering Services, Lutheran Hospital, La Crosse, WI

Conducting a facility field visit is an opportunity to have that one-on-one contact and find out if the architect “walks the talk or talks the walk.” The biggest benefit is in finding out how the visit team of the architectural firm has been assembled: to see their level of participation, and how they have interacted with and listened to the clients and the hosts. What we look for in a consultant is not a “yes man”; we look for someone who knows more about existing facilities than we do. Our key concerns are how the team worked together, how they listened.

Dennis C. Lagatta, Vice President, Ellerbe Becket, Washington, DC

The main reason for conducting a visit is to settle an issue with the client. The clients usually have only two frames of reference: the current facility and the one where they were trained. These two frames of reference are hard to overcome without a visit. We conduct visits to help settle an issue between various groups within the institution. The visit process tends to be a good political way to illustrate a problem or a solution to a problem. A good example is when you have a dispute between critical care physicians and surgeons. Both parties may be unwilling to compromise. Usually a visit will be a good way to defuse this conflict.

James W. Evans, Facilities Director, Heartland Health System, St. Louis, MO

Responding to the question, what kinds of team-building activities were conducted before the actual visit took place? The functional space program stage is where you start building a team. Functional space programming is a narrative of what you want to do. If the programming includes a laboratory or some other specialty area, you would also want to have the consultant (if you are using one) involved in this process. Between blocks and schematics is when you want to go on any visits. By working together and staying together through big and small projects, you develop a lot of rapport and credibility.

Les Saunders, Nix Mann And Associates, Architects, Atlanta, GA

In the case of marketing visits, we try and present our unique abilities to our clients and to get to know each other better, Our visits are generally tailored to what the client group is trying to accomplish. Our functional experts will go on the visit so they can get to know the client and try to enhance “bonding.”

Facility visits allow healthcare organizations and design professionals to address several important trends in healthcare.

• A visit allows a team to understand the experience of stakeholders who they do not currently serve, and to examine the design and operations of facilities that are more customer-oriented.
• Social changes are resulting in some stakeholder groups gaining importance, such as outpatients involved in more complex procedures, higher acuity inpatients, older people, or non-English speakers.
• A visit can provide quantitative and qualitative data that support future decision making.
• Tighter budgets, shorter design and construction schedules and more complex projects are requiring design teams to form more quickly and work more effectively.
• A visit can be an effective tool for building a design team early in a design project.

FALLING SHORT OF THEIR POTENTIAL

In a design project, the client healthcare organization generally pays for a visit, either directly or as a part of design fees. Do healthcare organizations usually get good value for their investment? Do visits generally achieve their ambitious goals of learning about competition and change, moving the design project along, and building teams? We found very different answers. Despite the usual rigor of healthcare planning and programming, many current visits are very casual. Whereas some planners of visits do careful searches of available facilities to fit specific criteria, most choose sites to visit in other ways— sites participants happen to already know because they have been written about in magazines, or sites where there is a contact that someone on the team knows. Though these ways of choosing sites may be appropriate, they raise a question as to whether most participants are visiting the best sites for their purposes.

In many cases visit teams simply do not spend much time structuring the visit. Most teams do not even meet in advance to decide the major foci of the visit. We did not find many groups who use checklists or sets of questions or criteria when they go into the field. Whereas some teams compile the participants’ notes, and one team actually created a videotape in a large project, most teams do not create any kind of written or visual record of their visit. Many teams hold no meeting at the end to discuss the implications of the visit, although many participants felt that they emerged in subsequent programming or design meetings.

Despite the apparent casualness of these visits, designers and clients alike almost without exception felt they were a valuable resource.

Simply visiting a well-run facility can be vivid and exciting. It is fascinating to see how excellent competitors operate, to talk to them and learn of their experience. (It is also an excellent opportunity for administrators and designers to get away from their daily routine and talk to professional counterparts.)

But there are large opportunity costs in the way most current visits are run, and they represent considerable lost value for the healthcare organization, designer, and design project.

COMMON PITFALLS

Opportunity costs of current visits come from several common pitfalls.

LOW EXPECTATIONS LEAD TO LIMITED BENEFITS

Often, participants see field visits as a way to get to know other team members and simply to see other sites, but have no clear idea about what information can be helpful to the project at hand. They don’t think through how the visit can help the goals of their project or organization.

TOO BUSY TO PLAN

The planner of a visit faces multiple problems. Often the visit is seen as a minor part of the job of most participants and doesn’t get much attention in advance; schedules and participants may change at the last minute. In many cases, no one is assigned to develop the overall plan of the visit, and to ask if the major components-choice of sites, choice of issues to investigate, methods for visits, ways of creating and disseminating a report-match the overall goals of the organization and project. This is especially ironic because participants are often advocates of careful planning in other areas.

TOO FOCUSED ON MARKETING

Many visits, and especially designer-client visits, are billed as data gathering but are in fact aimed at marketing. A design firm may literally be marketing services or may be trying to get a client to accept a solution that they have already developed: marketing an idea. This may lead to an attempt to create a perfect situation in the facility being visited, one without rush, bustle, or everyday users and the information they can provide. For designer-client teams, we heard many designers complain that they couldn’t control their clients, that they couldn’t keep them focused on prearranged ideas or keep them limited to prearranged routes. (This is often the result of not enough advance work aimed at understanding what interests the participants have and not enough time spent building common goals.)

CLOSING THE RANGE OF DESIGN OPTIONS TOO EARLY

Many visits occur early in the design process or when an organization is considering significant change, a perfect time to consider new possibilities or address issues and solutions not previously considered. This timing, and the chance to see and discuss new options in a visit, presents an opportunity for a design team to open its range of choices and consider novel or creative alternatives. However, many visit participants feel strong pressures to “already know the answer” when they start the visit. Many designers and consultants feel that their clients do not want them to genuinely explore a range of options, that they were hired because they know the solution. Similarly, some medical professionals establish positions early to avoid seeming foolish or uninformed. As a result, the team may choose sites that bring only confirmation, not surprise, and people will be interviewed who bring a viewpoint that is already well established. This is not simply a matter of the individual personalities of people who set up visits, but rather a problem of the design of teams and the context within which they operate. It is often important for a design firm to show a client the approach it is advocating and for them to jointly explore its suitability for the client’s project. However, if the client expects a designer to know the answer before the process starts, rather than developing it jointly with the client, the designer is forced to use the visit to exhort rather than to investigate.

TOO LITTLE STRUCTURE FOR THE VISIT

Whereas no one likes to be burdened with unnecessary paperwork before or during a visit, it is easy to miss key issues if there is not an effort to establish issues in advance, with a reminder during the visit. Seeing a new place, with lots of activity and complexity, makes it easy to miss some key features. Many team members come back from visits with a clear idea of some irrelevant unique feature such as the sculpture in the hallway, rather than the aspect of the site that was being investigated.

INTERVIEWING THE WRONG PEOPLE

Often, out of organizational procedure or courtesy, a site being visited will assign an administrator or person from public relations to be the primary guide. It is almost always preferable to interview people familiar with the daily operations of the department or site.

MISSING CRITICAL STAKEHOLDERS

Almost every healthcare facility is attempting to become more responsive to customers, both patients and “internal” customers such as staff. Patients often now have a choice of healthcare providers, and staff are costly to replace. Despite these trends, many visits miss some key customer groups such as inpatients, outpatients, visitors, line staff, and maintenance staff. It is very important that these groups or people who have close contact with them be represented in visits.

A DESIGNER PROVIDING TOO MUCH DIRECTION DURING A DESIGNERCLIENT VISIT

In an effort to control the outcome, a designer may attempt to ask most of the questions during interviews. In addition to the problem of focusing exclusively on “selling” ideas described above, clients do not like to feel that their role is usurped.

MISSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEAM BUILDING

Teams are most effective when everyone understands the values, goals, expertise and specific roles of others on the team. Teams are also most effective when the team understands the process and resources of the team, the nature of the final product, how the final product will be used: who will evaluate it, and by what criteria the success of the product will be evaluated. Although management consultants routinely recommend making such issues explicit at the beginning of team building, we found few visit teams that deal with these issues directly. Many teams do not even get together before a visit to discuss these issues.

NOT ATTENDING TO CREATING A COMMON LANGUAGE

Multidisciplinary design teams often speak different professional languages and have different interests and values. Designers are used to reading plans and thinking in terms of space and materials; healthcare administrators are used to thinking in terms of words and operational plans. Unless a field visit team is conscious about making links between space and operations, there can be little opportunity to establish agreement.

LACK OF AN ACCESSIBLE VISIT REPORT

Most current visits produce no report at all; some produce at least a compilation of handwritten notes. We heard a repeated problem: no one could remember where they saw a given feature.

CHAPTER 1:  MAJOR TASKS

The healthcare facility visit process has three major phases, divided into specific team tasks that are conducted before, during, and after a visit. These phases, and the 13 major tasks that comprise them, are below. The process we propose is quite straightforward, but compared to most current visits it is more deliberate about defining goals, thinking through what will be observed, preparing a report, and being clear about the implications of the visit for the current design project.

PREPARATION

TASK 1. SUMMARIZE THE DESIGN PROJECT

In this task the project leader or others prepare a brief description of the goals, philosophy, scope, and major constraints overview of the design project that the visit is intended to aid. It should include the shortcomings that the design project is to resolve: space limitations, operational inefficiencies, deferred maintenance, etc.

The overview helps focus the facility visit, and can be provided to the host sites to help them understand the perspective of the visit. This summary should be brief, only a few pages of bulleted items, but should clearly identify the strategic decisions the team is facing. For example, a team may be considering whether to develop a freestanding or attached woman’s pavilion. It is also important to identify key operational questions in the project summary. Focusing on design solutions too early may distract the team from more fundamental questions that need to be resolved. The purpose of the summary is to establish a common understanding of goals, build a common understanding of constraints, and allow the visit hosts to prepare for the visit.

The summary of the design project may focus on several topics:

• How do these critical purposes link to key business imperatives, such as “broadening the base of patients” or “allowing nurses to spend more time delivering patient care”?
• What measurable or observable aspects of the design relate to these key purposes? For example, one team may be interested in whether carpeting leads to increased cleaning costs or increased infection rates; another team may be interested in visitor satisfaction with a self-service gift shop.

Key issues in summarizing the design project:

• It should identify the full range of stakeholders who affect the current design.

Note: Many visits ignore this critical up-front work. Depending on the schedule and scope, the summary can be circulated to the team in advance of the brainstorming meeting.

TASK 2. PREPARE BACKGROUND BRIEF

More than most building types, healthcare facilities have a large body of literature providing descriptions of new trends, research, design guidelines, and post-occupancy evaluations. Many design firms and healthcare organizations have this material in their library or can get it from local universities or medical schools. In this task the visit organizer creates a file of a few key articles or book chapters describing the issue or facility type being visited. These are then distributed to the team, allowing all team members to have at least a minimal current understanding of operations and design.

The team leader also prepares an Issues Worksheet. This is a one-page form that is distributed along with the Background Brief to all members of the visit team prior to their first meeting. (See Figure 2 for a sample Issues Worksheet.) It encourages them to jot down what is important to them, and to discuss issues with their coworkers. It works most effectively when the visit organizer adds some typical issues to help them think through the problem. Participants should be encouraged to bring the Worksheet with them to the team meetings.

Key issues in preparing the Background Brief:

• Providing a few current background articles on the kind of department, facility, or process being visited helps create at least a minimum level of competence for the team and helps establish a common vocabulary prior to the visit.
• The Issues Worksheet, along with the Project Summary and Background Brief, allows participants to develop a picture of the project and to brainstorm ideas.

TASK 3. PREPARE DRAFT WORK PLAN AND BUDGET

Once the team leader or others have summarized the design project and prepared the Background Brief, a draft work plan outlining the major components of the field visits can be prepared. At this stage, it is important to establish a tentative budget for the visit. It is also important to make sure that the major components of the draft work plan, such as choosing visit sites and developing critical issues, match the overall goals of the organization and project. The draft work plan provides a tentative structure for the field visits, which can be modified by other team members.

Key issues in preparing the draft work plan:

TASK 4. CHOOSE AND INVITE PARTICIPANTS

The effectiveness of the team is, of course, most directly related to the nature of the participants. Field visit teams are sometimes chosen for reasons such as politics, or as a reward for good service, rather than for their relevance to the project. For healthcare organizations field visit teams are usually most successful if they mix the decision makers who will be empowered to make design decisions with people who have direct experience in working in the area or department being studied. For design firms, teams are often most successful if they include a principal and the project staff. In both of these cases, the team combines an overall strategic view of the organization and project with an intimate knowledge of operational and design details.

Key issues in choosing participants:

• Participants should be chosen with a clear view of why they need to participate and what their responsibility is in planning, conducting and writing up the visit.
• Site hosts say that teams larger than about seven tend to disrupt their operations.

TASK 5. CONDUCT TEAM ISSUES SESSION

It is usually advisable to hold a team meeting early in the visit planning process to: 1) clarify the purposes and general methods of the field visit; 2) build an effective visit team by clarifying the perspective and role of each participant; 3) ‘identify potential sites, if the visit sites have not already been selected. Some resources and methods to select sites are discussed further in the next section, “Critical Issues in Conducting Facility Visits.”

The issues session is often a “structured brainstorming” meeting aimed at getting a large number of ideas on the table. (This is particularly important during departmental and general visits, and if team members don’t know each other.) The purpose is opening the range of possible issues rather than focusing on a single alternative.

This meeting is typically aimed at building a common sense of purpose for all team members, rather than marketing a preconceived idea. This meeting also serves the purpose of making critical decisions regarding the choice of sites and identifying who at the sites should be contacted.

Each participant should bring his or her Issues Worksheet along to the meeting. The initial task is to get all questions and information needs onto a flip chart pad or board before any prioritization goes on. Then the leader and group can sort these into categories and discuss priorities. These categories and priorities may be sorted in the form of lists which include: 1) a list of critical purposes of the departments or features being designed; 2) a list of critical purposes of the departments or features being evaluated at each facility during visits; 3) a list of existing and innovative design features relevant to these purposes. The critical purposes of the departments or design features at existing facilities can be charted at different spatial levels of the facilities, such as: site, entrance, public spaces, clinical spaces, administrative and support areas. Some typical architectural design issues are provided in the appendix.

The issues session may be run by the leader or the facilitator. Because one of the purposes of this meeting is to get balanced participation, it may be useful to have someone experienced in group process run the meeting, rather than the leader. His or her job is to make sure everyone participates, allowing the leader to focus on content.

This meeting may also provide an early opportunity to identify potential problems in conflicting goals, values or personalities on the team. For instance, a healthcare facility design project may have significant conflicts between departments, or between physicians and administrators. The meeting may also allow the team to agree on basic business imperatives and to be clear about the constraints that are of greatest importance to them, such as “never having radioactive materials cross the path of patients.”

Key points in running an issues session:

• Everyone should be able to participate without feeling “dumb.”
• The leader and group should try to understand the range of interests and priorities represented.
• Brief notes of the meeting should be distributed to all participants.

Note: This meeting is successful if participants feel they can express ideas, interests, and concerns without negative consequences from other members of the team. There is no such thing as a stupid question in this meeting.

TASK 6. IDENTIFY POTENTIAL SITES AND CONFIRM WITH THE TEAM

Based on the work plan which established the visit objectives and the desires, interests and budget of the team, the visit organizer chooses potential sites, and checks with the team. If possible, he or she provides some background information about each site to help the team make decisions.

The team may know of some sites they would like to visit, and these might have emerged in the issues session. Otherwise there are a range of sources for finding appropriate sites to visit: national organizations such as the American Hospital Association, as well as the American Institute of Architects Academy on Architecture for Health Facilities, and a range of magazines that discuss healthcare facilities. (See the section below entitled “Choosing Sites.“)

Different teams pick sites for different reasons. Some may pick a site because it is the best example of an operational approach such as “patient-focused care.” Others may look for diversity within a given set of constraints, such as different basic layouts of 250-bed inpatient facilities.

Many visit leaders complain that the team sometimes is distracted by features outside the focus of the tour, and particularly by poor maintenance. Wherever possible, it is advisable for the visit organizers to tour the site in advance of the group visit and to brief the hosts in person about the purposes of the visit. Although it is rare, some sites now charge for visits.

A key issue in choosing sites:

• The selection of sites should challenge the team to think in new ways.

Note: Sites are often chosen to provide a clear range of choices within a set of constraints provided by operations, budget, or existing conditions, such as “different layouts of express emergency departments” or “different designs of labor-delivery-post-partum-recovery rooms.”

TASK 7. SCHEDULE SITES AND CONFIRM AGENDA

The leader or facilitator calls a representative at each host site to schedule the visit. He or she confirms the purposes of the visit, confirms with the host sites the information needed before and during the field visit, and confirms who will be interviewed at the site. Healthcare facilities are sometimes more responsive to a request for a visit if they are called by a healthcare professional or administrator rather than a designer: if someone on the team knows someone at a site, he or she may want to make the first phone call. Many teams also find that if they arrange for a very brief visit, this may be extended a bit on site when the hosts become engaged with the team. When confirming the schedule for the visit with the host facilities, the visit organizer should specify that the visit team would prefer to interview people familiar with the daily operations of the department or site.

Key issues in scheduling sites:

Note: Sites are often proud of their facilities and often enjoy receiving distinguished visitors. However, they often find it difficult to arrange interviews or assemble detailed information on the spot.

TASK 8. PREPARE FIELD VISIT PACKAGE

Visits are more effective if participants are provided a package of information in advance: information about schedule, accommodations, and contact people; information about each site, including, where possible, brief background information and plans; a simple form for recording information; and a “tickler” list of questions and issues.

a) Prepare visit information package

The organizers should provide participants information about the logistics of the field visit: schedules, reservation confirmation numbers, phone numbers of sites and hotels.

b) Prepare site information package

The site information package orients participants to the site in advance of the visit. Depending on what information is available, it may include: plans and photos of each site; basic organizational information about the site (client name and address, mission statement, patient load, size, date, designers, etc.); description of special features or processes or other items of interest. Whereas measured plans are best, these are not often available. Fire evacuation plans can be used. A sample site information package is provided in the Appendix. Many teams find it useful to review job descriptions for the host site, and many organizations have these readily available.

c) Prepare Visit Worksheet

Facility visits are often overwhelming in the amount of information they present. It is useful for the organizers to provide the participants with a worksheet for taking notes. We have provided a sample worksheet as Figure 3 below, and blank forms are provided in the Appendix. The purpose of the checklist is to remind participants of the key issues and to provide a form that can easily be assembled into the trip report.

Note: A successful worksheet directs participants to the agreed-upon focal issues without burdening them with unnecessary paperwork. Participants should understand the relationship between filling out the checklist and filling out the final report.

FACILITY VISIT

TASK 9. CONDUCT FACILITY FIELD VISIT

The actual site visit typically includes: 1) an initial orientation interview with people at the site familiar with the department or setting being investigated; 2) a touring interview where the team, or part of it, visits the facility being investigated with someone familiar with daily operations, asking questions and observing operations; 3) recording the site; 4) conducting a wrap-up meeting at the site. (Each of these steps is discussed individually below.) The interview sessions are focused on helping the team understand a wider range of implications and possibilities. If appropriate, the wrap-up session may also be used for focusing on key issues that move the design along.

Note: Participants often like to speak to their counterparts: head nurse to head nurse, medical director to medical director, etc., although everyone seems to like to talk to people directly involved with running a facility such as a head nurse. People who know daily operations are often more useful than a high-level administrator or public relations staff member.

a) Conduct site orientation interview

During the orientation interview the visit team meets briefly with a representative of the site to get an overall orientation to the site: layout and general organization; mission and philosophy; brief history and strategic plans; patient load; treatment load; and other descriptions of the site. Many teams are also interested in learning about experiences the healthcare organization had with the process of planning, design, construction and facility management: What steps did they use? What innovations did they come up with? What problems did they encounter? What are they particularly proud of? What do they wish they had done differently?

b) Conduct a touring interview

The touring interview was developed by a building evaluation group in New Zealand and by several other post-occupancy evaluation researchers and practitioners. (See the post-occupancy evaluation section of the Bibliography.) In the touring interview, the team, or a portion of it, visits a portion of the site to understand the design and operations. Conducting an interview in the actual department being discussed often brings a vividness and specificity that may be lacking in an interview held in a meeting room or on the phone. One of the great strengths of the touring interview is the surprises it may bring, and the option it provides to consider new possibilities or to deal with unanticipated problems. As a result, it often works best to start with fairly open-ended questions:

• What works well here? What works less well?
• What are the major goals and operational philosophy of the department?
• What is the flow of patients, staff, visitors, meals, supplies, records, laundry, trash?
• Can they demonstrate a sample process or procedure, such as how a patient moves from the waiting room to gowning area to treatment area?
• What are they most proud of?
• What would they do differently if they could do it over?

These questions also provide a nonthreatening way to discuss shortcomings or issues that are potentially controversial. The team may then want to focus on the specific concerns that were raised in the issues session.

A difficult, but critically important, thing to avoid in a touring interview is to become distracted by idiosyncratic details of the site being visited. Often operational patterns or philosophy are more important than specific design features that will not be generalized to a new project: how equipment is allocated to labor-delivery-recovery-postpartum rooms in the site being visited may be more important than the color scheme, even though the color may be more striking.

Large multidisciplinary teams are particularly hard to manage during a touring interview. A given facility may have a state-of-the-art imaging department that is of great interest to the radiologists on the team but may have a mediocre rehabilitation department. In these cases, some of the touring interviews may be focused on “what the host would do differently next time.”

Key issues in conducting the touring interview:

Note: It is important to include people familiar with daily operations on the touring interview, both on the team side and on the side of the site being visited. A frequent problem is that some stakeholder groups such as patients or visitors are not represented; special efforts should be taken to understand the perspectives of these groups.

c) Document the visit

The goals of the visit dictate the kinds of documentation that are appropriate. However, most visits call for a visual record, sketches, and written notes.

In most cases it is useful to designate one or more “official” recorders who will assemble notes and be sure photos are taken, measurements made, plans and documents procured, etc. For designer-client visits, it is often useful to have at least two official recorders to look after both design and operational concerns. However, because a team often splits up, most or all participants may need to keep notes.

It is quite rare for teams to use video to record their visit, although this seems to be increasing in popularity. Editing videos can be very costly: it may take a staff member several person-days in a professional editing facility to edit several hours of raw video down to a 10- or 15- minute length. However, this time may be reduced with the increased availability of inexpensive microcomputer-based editing programs.

Key issues in recording the facility:

Many departmental and general visit teams find it useful to photographically record key flows, such as patients, staff and supplies, and location of waiting rooms and other patient amenities.

Note: If the method of creating the documentation is established in advance it can easily be assembled into a draft report.

d) Conduct on-site wrap-up meeting

Whereas the visit interview is focused on opening options for the team and identifying new problems and issues, the wrap-up meeting is often more focused on clarifying how lessons learned on the visit relate to the design project, and how they begin to answer the questions the team established. It is often useful to have a representative of the host site present at the wrap-up meeting to answer questions, if their time allows.

Key issues in conducting wrap-up meetings:

TASK 10. ASSEMBLE DRAFT VISIT REPORT

A draft visit report may take many different formats. The simplest is to photocopy and assemble all participants’ worksheets and notes, retyping where necessary. Alternatively, the organizers or a portion of the team may edit and synthesize the worksheets and notes. Though more time consuming, this usually results in a more readable report. A somewhat more sophisticated version is to establish a database record that resembles the form used to take notes on-site in a program such as FoxPro, Dbase, or FileMaker Pro. Participants’ comments can be typed into the database and sketches and graphics can be scanned in and attached.

These are then provided to all participants.

A key issue in assembling the draft report:

• Simplicity is often best; simply photocopying or retyping notes is often adequate, especially if photos and sketches are attached.

TASK 11. CONDUCT FOCUS MEETING

Upon returning home, the team conducts a meeting to review the draft trip report and to ask:

Unlike the issues session held early in the visit planning process, which was primarily concerned with bringing out a wide range of goals and options, this meeting is typically more aimed at establishing consensus about directions for the project.

A key issue in conducting the focus meeting:

• The purpose of the focus meeting is to establish the lessons learned for the design project.

Note: The leader should carefully consider who is invited to the focus meeting. This may include others from the design firm, consultants, healthcare organization, or even representatives from the site.

TASK 12. PREPARE FOCUS REPORT

The focus report briefly summarizes the key conclusions of the visit for the visit team and for later use by the entire design team. It is an executive summary of the visit report which may provide a number of pages of observations and interview notes.

Key issues in preparing the focus report:

• The focus report should be a clear, brief, jargon-free summary.

TASK 13. USE DATA TO INFORM DESIGN

The key purpose of a facility visit is to inform design. Whereas this can occur informally in subsequent conversations and team meetings, it is best achieved by also being proactive. For example, the team can:

Key issues in using data to inform design:

• Reports and materials collected on visits should be available to all participants in the design process and should be on hand during subsequent meetings. A central archive of materials should be available and should be indexed to allow easy access for people involved in future projects.

CHAPTER 2:  TOOL KIT

TASK CHECKLIST

The team leader prepares a brief summary of the goals, philosophy, scope, and major constraints of the design project to help focus the field visit.

• Prepare a list of design or operational features related to these critical purposes.

The team leader prepares a file of a few key articles or book chapters that provide descriptions of new trends, research, design guidelines and post-occupancy evaluations of the facility type, department or issue being studied. He or she also prepares Issues Worksheets for team members to make notes on prior to the initial issues brainstorming session.

• Assemble current literature on existing facilities. Prepare the Issues Worksheet.

The draft work plan clarifies the values, goals, process, schedule and resources of the visits.

In this task the team leader builds a team. The ideal team combines a view of the overall strategic perspective of the organization and project with an intimate knowledge of daily operations.

The team issues session has three purposes: 1) clarify the purposes and general methods for the field visit; 2) build an effective team; 3) identify potential sites. The issues session is often a “structured brainstorming” meeting aimed at getting a large number of ideas on the table, and at understanding the various perspectives of the team.

• Clarify the resources available to the team and the use of the information collected.

TASK 6. IDENTIFY POTENTIAL SITES AND START FACILlTY VISIT PACKAGE

Based on visit objectives and the desires, interests and budget of the team, the visit organizers choose potential sites and check with the team. If possible they provide some background information about each site.

• If field investigation sites are already selected, provide fact sheets about each site to the participants.

In this task, the purposes and schedule of the visit are confirmed with the sites. This should occur at least two weeks before the visit.

The field investigation package includes the following components, which are used for conducting the visit:

• Tour information package (tour itineraries, transportation and accommodation details, list of contact people at each facility).
• Site information package (description of the sites, background information, facility plans).
• Site Visit Worksheets for notetaking.

TASK 9. CONDUCT FIELD VISIT

The interview sessions are focused on opening: helping the team understand a wider range of implications and possibilities. If appropriate, the wrap-up session may also be used for focusing on key issues that move the design along. Conduct site orientation interview.

• Collect any additional information from the host site.
• Conduct touring interview with people familiar with daily operations and a range of stakeholders.
• Document the visit through notes, sketches and photos.
• Conduct on-site wrap-up meeting with team members.

The draft report is a straightforward document allowing others to benefit from the investigation and providing the team a common document to work from.

The team conducts a focus meeting to ask: What are the major lessons of the investigation? What does it tell the team about the current project?

The Focus Report briefly summarizes the key conclusions of the visit for the visit team and for later use by the entire design team. It is an executive summary of the Visit Report which may provide a number of pages of observations and interview notes.

• Prepare and distribute a brief Focus Report.

The purpose of this document is to inform the design process.

• Write a brief newsletter about the design project that includes key findings from the visit.

SAMPLE FACILITY FACT SHEET (see PDF version)

CHAPTER 3:  CRITICAL ISSUES IN CONDUCTING FACILITY VISITS

Selecting visit sites.

One of the most important steps in conducting healthcare facility visits is the selection of appropriate sites. However, there is no single source of information on healthcare facilities, and site selection is not an easy task. It is difficult to locate sites with comparable features in terms of workload, size, budget, operational facilities and physical features. Without this information, the tendency is to choose sites based on other criteria, such as location and proximity, or the presence of a friend or former coworker at specific host facilities.

However, depending on the nature of the facility visit, there are several resources that can be consulted for site selection. Some healthcare and design professional associations periodically publish guides and reference books which are helpful in selecting sites for facility visits. The following sources can be referred to before selecting specific facilities for field visits:

NATIONAL HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATIONS

American Hospital Association (AHA) AHA Resource Center, Chicago, (312) 280-6000

AHA database for healthcare facilities in the state of Missouri. : Missouri Hospitals Profile . Listed price: $27.50.

AHA Guide to locating healthcare facilities in the US . The listed facilities are classified according to the city/county with a coded format for the number of beds, admission fee, etc. Listed price: $195 for nonmembers and $75 for members.

AHA Health Care Construction Database Survey . Contact Robert Zank at the AHA Division of Health Facilities Management, (312) 280-5910.

Association of Health Facilities Survey Agency (AHFSA) Directory of the Association of Health Facilities Survey Agency. AHFSA, Springfield, IL.

National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO) Some states collect detailed hospital-level data. To obtain information on states with legislative mandates to gather hospital-level data, contact Stacey Carman at 254 B N. Washington Street, Falls Church, VA 22046-4517, Telephone: (703) 532-3282, FAX: (703) 5323593.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS FOR DESIGN PROFESSIONALS

American Institute of Architects (AIA) AIA Academy on Architecture for Health 1735 New York Avenue NW Washington, DC 20006

(202) 626-7493 or (202) 626-7366, FAX (202) 626-7587 To order AIA publications: (800) 365-2724

Hospital Interior Architect .

Hospital and Health Care Facilities, 1992. Listed price: $48.50 for nonmembers; 10% discount for members off listed price.

Hospitals and Health Systems Review, July 1994. Listed price: $12.95 for nonmembers; 30 % discount for members off listed price.

Hospital Planning . Listed price: $37.50 for nonmembers; 10% discount for members off listed price.

Hospital Special Care Facility , 1993.

Organizational Change: Transforming Today’s Hospitals, January 1995: Listed price: $36.00 for nonmembers; 30% discount for members off listed price.

Health Facilities Review (biannual), 1993. Listed price: $20 for nonmembers; $14 for members.

PERIODICALS DESCRIBING SPECIFIC HEALTHCARE FACILITIES

Modern Healthcare. This national weekly business news magazine for healthcare management is published by Crain Communication, and holds annual design awards. In conjunction with AIA Academy of Architecture for Health, this periodical announces annual competition and honors architectural projects that build on changes in healthcare delivery. Contact Joan Fitzgerald or Mary Chamberlain at 740 N. Rush Street, Chicago IL 60611-2590, (312) 649-5355.

American Hospital Association Exhibition of Architecture for Health , 1993.

For further information contact Robert Zank at the Division of Health Facilities Management, (312) 280-5910.

Journal of Healthcare Design . This journal illustrates 20-40 exemplary healthcare facilities in each

annual issue. Free list of previously-toured exemplary facilities (available by calling The Center).

Æsclepius . Æsclepius is a newsletter discussing a range of design issues relevant to healthcare facilities.

TEAMBUILDING

Many people who conduct healthcare facility field visits use them as a way to build an ongoing design team. This is particularly true of designer-client-consultant teams who conduct visits early in a design project. According to organizational researcher and consultant J. Richard Hackman, 1 teams often spend too much time worrying about the “feelgood” aspects of interpersonal relationships and not enough time focusing on other key issues such as choosing the right people for the team, making roles and resources clear, specifying final products, and clarifying how the final product will be used.

Participants are often chosen because they are upper-level administrators or because they deserve the perk. It may not be clear what their function is on the visit or how they would contribute to any later decision making about the design project. Likewise, visit teams often don’t know what resources are available to them: Can they visit national sites? Can they call on others to help prepare and distribute a visit report?

• Some key team building steps include:
• Select visit participants with a clear idea of why they are participating and how they can contribute.
• Keep the team small; visit teams of more than seven or eight people are hard to manage.
• Provide each participant a clear role before, during and after the actual site visit, and negotiate this role to fit their interests and skills. Roles should be clearly differentiated and clear to all participants.
• Make the final product clear: simple photocopying and assembly of notes and photos taken during the visit; brief illustrated written report; videotape, etc.
• Clarify how the visit findings are to be used: what key decisions are the major focus?

ROLES IN CONDUCTING FACILITY VISITS

There are several key roles in the process. Depending on the size of the team and the nature of the visit, each role may be taken on by a different person, or they may be combined.

LEADERSHIP TASKS:

• Restate current need and parameters of the design project.
• Develop some background information on the issues or setting types being investigated, and distribute to team members.
• Conduct a brainstorming meeting to understand the expertise, interests, values, and goals of each team member.
• Identify potential visit team members, and invite them.
• Summarize the goals of the design project, clarify how the field visit might advance these goals, and communicate these to the team.
• Identify roles for each team member.
• Develop a work plan and budget.
• Clarify the criteria for choosing sites.
• Prepare and/or review major documents: site-specific protocols; checklists and lists of questions and issues; information about each site being visited; overall plan for the visit; visit report; focus report.
• Conduct wrap-up meeting at each site.
• Conduct focus meeting on returning home.

SUPPORT TASKS:

• Assemble a few key articles or other documents to help the team understand the key issues in the setting types, processes or departments being visited.
• Identify potential sites, with some information about each site candidate so the leader and team can make final choices.
• Confirm with sites, and clarify what information the team will need in advance and what will be collected during the visit.
• Prepare draft materials (Background Brief, site information package, visit information, interview protocol) for review by the leader.
• Organize any trip logistics that are not done individually by participants: car rentals, hotel reservations, air tickets, etc.
• Write thank-you letters to site participants.
• Prepare a Draft Visit Report for review by the leader and team.
• Draft a Focus Report for review by the leader and the team.

FACILITATION TASKS:

When the team is attempting to get broad input into the process, such as when the team meets initially to set direction, it is often useful to have someone run the meeting who has the role of simply looking after the process of the meeting, rather than the content. He or she is charged with making sure that everyone is heard without prejudice, and that all positions are brought out. It often works poorly to have a senior manager in this role. Even if he or she has good facilitation skills, it is intimidating for many people to speak up in a meeting led by their boss.

Specific tasks:

• Conduct the initial brainstorming session that establishes the direction, issues and roles for the visit.
• Conduct any additional sessions where balanced participation is important to increasing the pool of ideas or getting “buy-in” from all team members.

RECORDER TASKS:

During the actual site visit, one or more people are typically charged with maintaining the “official” records of the visit (individuals may keep their own notes as well). This may include written notes, audio or video records, or photographs. If the team breaks up during the visit, a recorder should accompany each group.

Specific tasks include:

• Procure any required recording devices and supplies, such as cameras, tape recorders, paper forms, etc.
• Make records during the visit.
• Edit the record and assemble into a report.

TEAM PARTICIPANTS TASKS:

INTERVIEWING

Interviews vary greatly in the amount of control exercised by the interviewer in choosing the topic for discussion and in structuring the response. An intermediate level of control over topic and responses, often called a “structured interview,” is usually appropriate in a facility visit. In a structured interview, the interviewer has an interview schedule which is a detailed list of questions or issues which serves as a general map of the discussion. However, the interviewer allows the respondent to answer in his or her own words and to follow his or her own order of questioning if desired. The interview is usually aided by walking through the setting or by having plans or other visual aids during seated sessions.

The use of fixed responses, in which respondents have to choose a “best” alternative among several presented, allows rapid analysis of results and may be appropriate if a large number of people are interviewed during a visit. The cost-effectiveness of interviews needs to be considered by the architect or manager when designing the process. Individual interviews are useful because people being questioned may be more forthcoming than if friends or colleagues are present.

However, individual interviews are expensive. With scheduling, waiting time, running the interview, and coding, a brief individual interview may involve several hours or more of staff time.

In summary, interviews are valuable because people can directly communicate their feelings, motives and actions. However, interviews are limited by people’s desire to be socially desirable or by their faulty memories, although these problems may not be too serious unless the questions are very sensitive.

CHAPTER 4:  CONCLUSIONS

Unfortunately, many design processes do not do a good job at controlling risks, costs, and inefficiencies. A design project may have a big influence on the future of an organization, but critical operational and design decisions often receive too little attention. And problems or new ideas are often discovered very late in a design process, when they are difficult and costly to accommodate. It is not hard to understand the source of these difficulties. The crises of everyday life go on unabated during design and distract people from design, short-term politics continue, and many people are comfortable with what they already know. Many design team participants representing healthcare organizations want to reproduce their existing operation, even if they can recognize its flaws.

A healthcare design team is too often more like a raucous international meeting than like an effective task-oriented organization. Participants speak different professional languages, have different experiences, have different short-term objectives, hold different motivations for participating, and hold different values about what constitutes a successful project. The team may be far into a project before it understands the different viewpoints represented on the team.

A facility visit is a unique opportunity to address some of these problems. It provides an extended opportunity for a design or planning team to get together outside the pressures of daily life, to critically examine the operations of an excellent facility, to rethink its own ideas, and to build the basis of a team that may function for several years. It is often the longest uninterrupted time a team ever spends together, and the best chance to think in new ways.

A visit has three goals: to establish a situation for effective critical examination of state-of-the-art operations and facilities; to think about the project in new ways; and building a team. These goals are intertwined. A well-structured facility visit may help build a team more effectively than an artificial “feel-good” exercise of mountain climbing or simulated war games. A team that looks at a facility from different perspectives, and in which participants forcefully argue their viewpoint based on evidence from a common visit, can learn each other’s strengths, preferences, and priorities quickly and in a way that builds a bond that is closely related to their own project.

Many teams, however, do not provide enough structure for either critical examination or team building. Critical examination requires an understanding of what key issues are to be examined and how they might apply to the current design problem. Team building requires that a team clearly establishes the role of each team member, makes the resources, process, and schedule clear, is explicit about the form and use of the final report, and establishes a common language.

Healthcare designers and consultants can develop better facility visits, but the responsibility for improving this practice rests with healthcare clients. For a visit to reach its potential, clients must demand an improved process, hold the organizer accountable-and be willing to pay for it. The healthcare client must see design and planning as a process open to mutual learning, and make it happen.

APPENDIX A: BIBLIOGRAPHY

See PDF version for bibliography.

APPENDIX B: EXEMPLARY MICRO-CASES

See PDF version for micro-cases.

Copyright © 1994 by The Center for Health Design, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced by any means or used in any form without written permission of the publisher.

The views and methods expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Center for Health Design, or its Board, or staff.

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Home » Report Templates » Free Industry Visit Report Templates (Excel / Word / PDF)

Report Templates

Free industry visit report templates (excel / word / pdf).

When an individual visits the industry whether he or she is a student or an employee, they need an industry visit report template to create a visit report. This document contains a detailed summary of the visit organized in a sequence.

Table of Contents

How to write an industry visit report?

Here are the steps to write an industry visit report;

Introduction

In this section, provide the introductory information about the event including;

• Who proposed and organized it
• Complete designation of the facility you’ve visited
• The name of your college or company
• The names and positions of people who played a significant role in organizing and implementing the event
• Faculty members who are associated with the students or employees
• Total number of people involved in it

Details of Visit

Here, you need to provide the following details about the visit;

• The timeline of the visit
• Point-by-point detail of every part of your journey
• Where and when you started
• What industries and facilities you’ve visited
• Where and when you attended seminars
• When the event ended
• When you come back

Detailed descriptions

Describe the important stages of your visit in detail. In case, you have attended seminars then specify the following;

• When and where they took place
• How long they lasted
• Who conducted them
• What they were about
• What you’ve learned
• Your general impressions

In addition, if you have visited any specific places then mention the locations, staff members that are with you during the visit, knowledge you got during the visit, and your feedback about the visit.

Travel details

This part of your report includes technical and statistical details;

• Names of the people or students who are with you during the visit
• The place where you stayed

Feedback from students or employees

In the end, the students or employees have to provide their generalized opinion of the whole event. State whether it was useful and whether you got any specific new knowledge and experiences from it.

Store Visit Report Form

School Visit Report Form

Site Visit Report Sample

Industry Visit Report Template

Team Home Visit Report Template

Field Visit Report Template

Sales Person Daily Progress Report Template

Construction Site Visit Report Template

Business Visit Report Template

It provides you with updated details regarding the current events after a visit. It facilitates decision-making in a company.

First, state the general information about the visit and specify the purpose of the visit. Describe the entire visit in detail and summarize the report with important information.

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Create documents from templates, collect eSignatures, upload to the cloud or send by e-mail

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Design forms for SharePoint Online and SharePoint 2019/SE

Design and publish web forms, process submissions in Power Automate, Zapier, or Plumsail Documents

Advanced SharePoint actions for Microsoft Flow, Azure Logic Apps or PowerApps

Visualize organization structure in SharePoint Online or on-premises

Create interactive charts for SharePoint based on lists, libraries, or external data

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Patient Visit Report Form

This free online form template is a comprehensive and user-friendly tool for healthcare staff. This medical report template helps doctors and medical staff record patient information, diagnoses, treatments, and recommendations efficiently. Whether it’s for a routine check-up, a hospital site visit, or specialized medical consultations, this doctor visit summary template ensures that all essential details are captured in an organized manner. Use this template to keep accurate patient records and improve care quality.

Structure and logic of the form

The form sections are visually divided with grid containers . Use grids in a form design to simplify layout, ensure consistency, and enhance the user experience.

The calendar start view is set up to show the years of the decade . Thus, patients can quickly find the required date by year, then select the month and date without endless scrolling through the calendar.

To make sure patients are over 18 years old, the dates within the last 18 years are disabled. Specify the available date range in the calendar to efficiently schedule appointments, follow-up consultations, or treatment plans, track vaccination expiry dates, and more.

The Phone , Medicare Number and Individual Health Identifier (IHI) fields accept only digits to prevent input errors. It's done with Masked Text field type. Use it to specify a particular format and ensure accurate data collection for patient details, including social security numbers, health insurance policy numbers, and medical IDs.

The email field only accept data that matches the specified pattern to ensure users enter valid emails. Patterns are an alternative to the Masked Text field to restrict user input. Choose from predefined patterns or create your own to verify patient information.

How to Get Access to Your Hospital Records

Federal privacy laws give patients the right to request and receive copies of their medical records, but there are a few exceptions.

This article is based on reporting that features expert sources.

Access Your Hospital Records

Your health record represents a valuable timestamp of the care you received. In fact, the saying, "If it wasn't documented, it wasn't done," is a common phrase in the medical world.

Whether you're looking to provide proof that you received proper care, trying to justify why you deserve a prior authorization from your insurance plan or another reason, the medical record is your only evidence.

The Privacy Rule of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) entitles all patients to have access to their medical records, and that during the transmission, your privacy is protected. Even so, you can encounter pushback.

Learn more about how to access your medical records, why you might need them and your rights in receiving those records.

Key Takeaways

• You have a right to access your medical records – no matter the reason – within 30 days of your request.
• You may request medical records in person, online via your patient portal, by phone or fax.
• However, there are some limits on medical record transmission. For example, you may not have access to psychotherapy notes or the records of your spouse or child.

How to Request Your Medical Records

Before you request medical records, remember that you have a right to receive your records within 30 days of your request. You should not feel that you are inconveniencing the facility by asking.

There are several ways to access or request your records:

1. Check your patient portal

You can start by checking your patient portal, which contains all medical records for patients with active accounts, and they can be viewed or securely shared between patients and medical providers .

2. Visit the facility's website

The website may have instructions on how to access your records or have a form for you to complete.

Both of these methods may still require that you request the records via fax or in writing, but the facility should guide you on how to complete that process. If your concerns are not addressed, you can contact the Department of Health and Human Services for information on how to report the facility and file a complaint.

HIPAA also gives you the right to request an amendment if you notice an error in a medical record, such as an incorrect medication or allergy . In cases like these, the clinician who made the original documentation often makes the change.

3. Call the facility

If you don't have a patient portal and aren't sure where to start, call the facility where you are requesting records. They can explain their protocol for record transmission to ensure you get the records in a timely manner and with your privacy protected.

In clinic settings, the receptionist can often assist with these requests. In the hospital, if you reach the operator, ask for the health information department to be directed to the right person.

4. Visit the facility in person

Patients can visit medical facilities during business hours to complete the authorization forms for medical record release. If you haven't been able to reach someone by phone or if you are in the area, this is a viable option.

What Information Is in Your Medical Records?

Medical record formats differ depending on the care setting, where you received care and the electronic health record system used. However, some form of record will accompany all medical interactions, including:

• Inpatient hospital admission
• Elective surgery
• Home health visit
• Physical therapy or occupational therapy evaluation
• Clinic visit
• Vaccination appointment
• Blood donation
• Imaging appointment

Depending on the care setting, each medical record contains multiple sections with key documents. These may include:

• The initial history and physical examination
• Consultation reports from specialists, such as  cardiologists  or  neurologists
• Operative reports
• Significant test results, such as echocardiograms or MRIs
• Current medication list
• Discharge summary

Managing extensive medical records

Inpatient medical records, in particular, are filled with redundancies. Each day of an inpatient stay will have new daily progress notes, but will also repeat previous information, like past vital signs, most recent labs, reason for admission and a list of medications.

Unfortunately, there isn't a way to have the repeated information removed upon your records request. If you do receive hundreds or thousands of pages, here are some tips to sort through the information:

• Search for relevant information. If you receive the information in a digital file format, try searching for keywords by pressing "Ctrl + F" on your keyboard to search through the PDF document. However, not all documents accommodate this search function, particularly if they have been manually faxed or are in a JPEG or IMG format.
• Scan for key elements of the record. Some of the most useful health information will be under headers like H&P (history and physical), admission note, operative note, daily progress note and discharge note.
• Create a table of contents for yourself to reference later. If the document doesn't have one already, scroll through and make a note of where the information is located. For example, page 6 has the admission note, and page 37 has the operative note.

Why Would You Need Access to Your Medical Records?

You have a right to have access to your medical records no matter the reason.

Some circumstances where requesting records are particularly important include:

• If you are changing medical providers
• Getting a second opinion . For example, if you want to see a second orthopedic surgeon to see if they also recommend a knee replacement, you will want to send them your initial imaging and surgical consult.
• If you want to submit them for an insurance claim, or for an insurance appeal
• If you believe you have a legal case for medical malpractice, or if you feel you did not receive adequate care during your stay
• If you need proof of care, such as for a disability claim, a hospitalization for a work or school excuse or a vaccination record for traveling

What You Don't Get to See

While it is your right to access your medical records, there are a few exceptions, including:

• Psychotherapy notes . According to the HHS, psychotherapy notes receive special protections. This includes any notes related to the contents of a conversation held in a therapy session. Patients are not permitted access to psychotherapy notes – as they're typically not required or useful for treatment, payment or operations purposes – and health providers can also withhold information if they think it could endanger the physical safety of the patient or another person. You can still request the notes, but the therapist can choose which records, if any, to release to you.
• Records of minors . Depending on your state, parents may or may not have access to some parts of their child's medical records. For example, in Washington state, parents have limited access to medical records of minors once the child turns 13. Additionally, parents may not receive access to psychotherapy notes for their child.
• Records of a spouse . Unless they have direct, signed authorization from the patient, spouses will not be given access to his or her medical records.

If you are the caregiver or loved one requesting records on someone's behalf, you can do so with written permission or if you have power of attorney. If you need to clarify your right to receive someone else's records, call the health information department or receptionist at the facility you are requesting from.

Potential Roadblocks to Accessing Medical Records

You may encounter some challenges in accessing your medical records.

These may include:

• Not having a patient portal, so you can't access records on your own
• Difficulty locating the authorization form, completing and mailing or faxing the form
• Delays in the facility receiving the form via mail or fax

If you feel the facility is purposefully withholding records, make sure you make your request in writing with the date clearly stated on the request. You'll also want to keep a copy of the original request. That way, you have a paper trail if you need to report anything, or in the worst case scenario, if you need to seek legal action.

The facility has closed down

Each state has its own regulations on medical record retention requirements, dictating how many years the medical records need to be stored after the practice has closed.

To track down your records, try:

• Calling the medical office or visiting their website, in case they still have interim services
• Contacting the local hospital the practice was affiliated with. Many hospitals and smaller practices share medical records.
• Getting in touch with your state health department or state medical association for additional assistance

Even if the practice has shut down, you can still file a complaint with the HHS if you don't receive your medical records.

The facility charges a fee to request records

Facilities can charge a "reasonable" fee to send you medical records to cover postage or faxing, if applicable. However, HHS does not allow a facility to charge you for searching for, retrieving or digitally sending your medical records. The facility also can't charge you for outstanding medical bills or debt accompanying medical records when you request a copy of them.

Contact HHS if you believe you are being charged an exorbitant fee for your medical records.

Protecting Your Privacy During Record Transfer

The same laws that grant you rights to your medical records also mandate the privacy of your records during that transfer.

For example, at HonorHealth, a nonprofit hospital system in Arizona, all records are encrypted, regardless of whether they are emailed or copied to a CD.

If you need records sent from one facility to an outside provider, "patient medical records are only faxed after verification of their fax number," Brad Peterson, the network senior director and health information manager at HonorHealth in Scottsdale, Arizona.

If you're using a patient portal, most require two-factor authentication.

There is a federal initiative to implement a national framework for the exchange of health records to reduce the need for patients to manually request copies.

"The Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, have set up the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) to allow health care organizations to share information in a secure manner. Specifically, groups of health systems join Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs) such as Epic or eHealth Exchange, to facilitate this secure exchange," says Dr. Jim Whitfill, the senior vice president and chief transformation officer at HonorHealth in Scottsdale, Arizona.

As of December 2023, TEFCA became operational, with limited back-end document exchange between participating networks. The project is rolling out in stages and ideally, by the end of 2025, patients will hopefully be able to access their health information at once for all participating platforms.

The Bottom Line

You have a right to access your medical records within 30 days of your request. Your medical records may be hundreds or thousands of pages long, so be prepared that it may take time to go through them if you are seeking specific information.

If you are requesting records be sent to another provider office, your privacy should be protected. You may request your records by visiting the facility in person, contacting them by phone, visiting their website or visiting your patient portal.

The U.S. News Health team delivers accurate information about health, nutrition and fitness, as well as in-depth medical condition guides. All of our stories rely on multiple, independent sources and experts in the field, such as medical doctors and licensed nutritionists. To learn more about how we keep our content accurate and trustworthy, read our  editorial guidelines .

Peterson is the network senior director and health information manager at HonorHealth in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Whitfill is the senior vice president and chief transformation officer at HonorHealth in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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Dos and Don'ts for Visiting Patients in the Hospital

It might surprise you to know that hospital visitors can be safety hazards who potentially introduce problems to the patients they hope to cheer or assist. The problems may be directly related to physical harm, or may even be mental or emotional.

It can be difficult to visit a patient in the hospital, but you can have a positive influence on your friend or loved one's recovery if you follow some simple visitor guidelines. Knowing the dos and don'ts may give you the confidence you need.

Ask for permission to visit

Wash your hands

Consider allergies and restrictions on decorations and gifts

Turn off cell phone

Keep visit short

Leave if doctor or provider arrive

Visit if you might be contagious

Bring young children

Bring food without checking on restrictions

Cause stress

Avoid visiting

Smoke before or during visit

Dos for Hospital Visitors

Do ask the patient's permission to visit before you arrive . Ask them to be candid with you, and if they prefer you not visit, ask them if another day would be better, or if they would prefer you visit once they get home. Many patients love visitors, but some just don't feel up to it. Do the patient the courtesy of asking permission.

Do wash or sanitize your hands . Do this before you touch the patient or hand the patient something. After touching any item in the room, wash or sanitize your hands again. Infections come from almost any source and the pathogens can survive on surfaces for days. Don't risk being responsible for making your favorite patient even sicker than they already are.

Do wear a mask . Regardless of current hospital rules, wearing a face mask can help protect both the patient and visitor from airborne viruses. If you do not have a mask, the hospital should be able to provide you with one.

Do check before bringing balloons or flowers . If your patient shares a hospital room, you won't want to take either, because you don't know if the roommate has an allergy. Most solid color balloons are latex rubber, and some people are allergic to latex . When in doubt, take mylar balloons or don't take any at all.

Do consider alternative gifts . A card, something a child has made for you to give to the patient, a book to read, a crossword puzzle book, even a new nightgown or pair of slippers are good choices. The idea isn't to spend much money; instead, it's about making the patient feel cared for without creating problems that might trigger an allergic reaction.

Do turn off or silence your cell phone . Different hospitals have different rules about where and when cell phones can be used. In some cases, they may interfere with patient-care devices, so your patient can be at risk if you don't follow the rules. In other cases, it's simply a consideration for those who are trying to sleep and heal and don't want to be annoyed by ringtones.

Do stay for a short time . It's the fact that you have taken the time to visit, and not the length of time you stay, that gives your patient the boost. Staying too long may tire them out. Better to visit more frequently but for no more than a half hour or so each time.

Do leave the room if the doctor or provider arrives to examine or talk to the patient . The conversation or treatment they provide is private, and unless you are a proxy, parent, spouse, or someone else who is an official advocate for the patient, that conversation is not your business. You can return once the provider leaves.

Do follow all hospital policies and staff instructions . Most hospitals have set visiting hours, limits on the number of visitors in the room, and other rules you are expected to follow. Check the hospital's visiting hours and other policies prior to visiting.

Don'ts for Hospital Visitors

Don't enter the hospital if you have any symptoms that could be contagious . Neither the patient nor other hospital workers can afford to catch whatever you have. If you have symptoms like a cough, runny nose, rash or even diarrhea, don't visit. Make a phone call or send a card instead.

During flu season , it is not uncommon for hospitals to restrict visitors to spouses, significant others, family members over 18, and pastors, so it is worthwhile to call the hospital before your visit.

Don't take young children to visit unless it's absolutely necessary . Check with the hospital before you take a child with you. Many hospitals have restrictions on when children may visit.

Don't take food to your patient unless you know they can tolerate it . Many patients are put on special diets while in the hospital. This is especially true for those with certain diseases or even those who have recently had anesthesia for surgery. Your goodies could cause big problems.

Don't visit if your presence will cause stress or anxiety . If there is a problem in the relationship, wait until after the patient is well enough to go home before you potentially stress them by trying to mend that relationship.

Don't expect the patient to entertain you . They are there to heal, not to talk or keep you occupied. It may be better for them to sleep or just rest rather than carry on a conversation. If you ask them before you visit, gauge their tone of voice as well as the words they use. They may try to be polite, but may prefer solitude at this time instead of a visit.

Don't stay home because you assume your friend or loved one prefers you not visit . You won't know until you ask, and your friend or loved one will appreciate the fact that you are trying to help by asking the question.

Don't smoke before visiting or during a visit, even if you excuse yourself to go outdoors . The odor from smoke is nauseating to many people, and some patients have a heightened sense of smell while taking certain drugs or in the sterile hospital environment. At most, it will cause them to feel sicker, and if your friend is a smoker, you may cause them to crave a cigarette.

Johns Hopkins Medicine. Patient safety and quality .

By Trisha Torrey  Trisha Torrey is a patient empowerment and advocacy consultant. She has written several books about patient advocacy and how to best navigate the healthcare system. 

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'Unwell, critical, suicide': How 3 phone calls made to doctor’s parents reveal RG Kar Hospital’s flip-flops

The audio recordings of phone calls, allegedly made by authorities of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College on August 9 morning to the parents of the doctor, who was raped and murdered, asking them to report to the hospital, took over the internet on Thursday. In the clip, the changing statements by a hospital official have raised questions on whether the hospital was initially trying to cover the ghastly crime read more

The audio recordings of phone calls, allegedly made by authorities of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College on August 9 morning to the parents of the doctor, who was raped and murdered, asking them to report to the hospital, took over the internet on Thursday.

The three recordings, whose authenticity Firstpost has not individually verified, have triggered a fresh controversy over the “insensitivity” and “disinformation” of the institute’s management in breaking the news.

In the clip, the changing statements by a hospital official have raised questions on whether the hospital was initially trying to cover the ghastly crime.

Here’s what the calls reveal.

The viral audio clips

Three audio clips — the first lasting roughly 71 seconds, the second 46 seconds, and the last call lasting roughly 28 seconds — that featured the voices of the deceased doctor’s parents and a hospital official went viral on social media and were broadcast by several news channel last evening.

The caller, a lady posing as the hospital’s assistant superintendent, reportedly called the victim’s parents three times in about 30 minutes, asking for their urgent presence at the facility.

“I am calling from RG Kar hospital. Can you come over immediately?” the caller could be heard telling the victim’s father when he picked his phone the first time around 10.53 that morning, according to PTI .

The father responded, “Why? What has happened?” To this, the caller replied, “Your daughter has fallen a little ill. We are admitting her in the hospital. Can you come down quickly?”

When the parent insisted on more details, the caller said, “Those details only doctors can provide. We only managed to find your number and call you. Please come down quickly. The patient has been admitted after falling ill. The rest, the doctors will brief you after you arrive.”

The worried mother asked in the background, “Is she running a fever?” to which the caller replied, “Come over quickly.”

RG Kar Horror : CNNNews18 accesses audio tape from August 9 when Assistant Superintendent of RG Kar informed victim's parents about her death News18's @KamalikaSengupt with more inputs @KuheenaSharma | #RGKARmedical #rgkarincident #DoctorDeath pic.twitter.com/aOctWRwduv — News18 (@CNNnews18) August 30, 2024

To enable his wife to listen in on the conversation, the victim’s father had left his phone on speaker mode.

“Is her condition very serious?” the father’s voice was heard asking. “Yes, she is very serious. Come quickly,” was the response from the other end.

The second phone call arrived some five minutes later, and it was perceptively from the same caller. She said, “Her condition is critical, very critical. Please come over as soon as you can.”   

To a desperate appeal from the father asking what happened to his daughter, the voice at the other end repeated, “Only doctors can say that. You please come over.”

When the father asked her to reveal her identity, the caller said, “I am the assistant superintendent. I am not a doctor. We have brought your daughter to the emergency ward. You please come over and contact us.”

“But what could have happened to her? She was on duty,” a panic-stricken mother’s voice could be heard in the background. “You come over quickly, as soon as you can,” was the reply.

The final call was the one which pronounced the death of the victim.

“Yes, please listen… we were repeatedly telling you before… your daughter… may have… died by suicide… or, she may have passed away. The police are here. All of us from the hospital are here. We are calling you to ask you to come down quickly,” the apparently same voice from the first two calls announced in disjointed sentences.

Also read: Kolkata rape-murder case: Was the crime scene altered?

Authenticity in question

It was not immediately clear if the clips were part of the same call or if there were two to three different calls.

Firstpost has not independently verified the authenticity of the audio clips.

The RG Kar officials did not respond immediately. Police in Kolkata declined to comment on the audio recordings, stating that the CBI is handling the case on the direction of the high court.

The doctor’s parents, who reside    in    the  North    24    Parganas, also claimed to be unaware of the widely shared audio clips that grabbed attention in the media. “We are not watching TV. How do we know who is doing what, and who accessed what,” the father was quoted by the Anandabazar Patrika .

The victim’s father, on whether the voice on the phone is his, told ANI , “You say so, but I do not see it. This issue will not affect the investigation.”

A non-medical assistant superintendent named Sucharita Sarkar made the calls, according to initial media statements made by Dr Arunava Dutta Chowdhury, who was in charge of the chest department where the alleged crime occurred, according to Hindustan Times .

Since August 9, Sarkar, who has been questioned by the CBI, has never been in front of the media.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP has also rubbished the audio recordings, by saying, “Last night’s fake news about ‘RG Kar leaked call recording ‘BUSTED!”  He further added, “As I said yesterday, if alleged call recording was real, it’d only mean two things: - Either parents recorded the call and shared the audio - Or hospital authorities recorded & shared the audio Parents have DENIED any link with these alleged “recordings.” Also, why would hospital record and leak a call if, as the media claims, they were “trying to cover up”?"

𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 “𝐑𝐆 𝐊𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠”𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃! Yesterday, media channels led by @IndiaToday & @TimesNow ran a fake propaganda claiming they had “recordings of calls between RG Kar victim’s parents &… pic.twitter.com/K2WtKGraZy — Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) August 30, 2024

An attempt to cover up the crime?

Investigators are wondering if “a carefully planned suicide plot was being hatched by the hospital authorities and police to cover up the crime,” an official said, as per The Economic Times .

The suspicions are raised due to the hospital’s changing statements, which went from the victim “falling a little ill” to “very critical and admitted in emergency ward” to, finally, “may have died by suicide.”

“Especially since the caller admitted in her final call, while misleading the family on the cause of the victim’s death, that she was speaking in the presence of police and hospital authorities,” the official added.

For those unversed, according to the official, the first GD record of the crime at Tallah PS mentioning “unnatural death” was made well before the hospital made its initial call to the parents.

The parents had earlier claimed that the hospital administration and the Kolkata police had attempted to conceal details from them while failing to conduct a thorough investigation.

On August 10, the police detained Sanjay Roy (31) , a civic volunteer who worked for the Kolkata police, as the main suspect. The CBI began its probe on August 14, less than 24 hours after the Calcutta high court transferred the case to the federal agency.

The audio clips have triggered a fresh controversy, with many protesters criticising the hospital for their ‘insensitivity’.

“How could the hospital management, fully aware of the gruesomeness of the crime, be so nonchalant and manipulative in breaking the news to the parents,” a student protestor asked, as per PTI .

Soumyadip Roy, an agitating junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, according to Hindustan Times , said, “We had been saying from the very beginning that hospital authorities tried to cover up the crime. This should be investigated thoroughly.”

‘Made to wait for three hours’

On August 9, early in the morning, the postgraduate trainee woman’s body was discovered in a hospital seminar hall.

The horrific occurrence has been scrutinised by the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court on multiple occasions, with one part including the hospital administration’s communication with the victim’s parents.

The parents claimed in their High Court petition that they had to wait for three hours. They believe there was a deliberate delay in this.

On the other hand, Kolkata Police has denied this claim.

According to NDTV, which cited the police’s timeline, the parents arrived at the hospital at 1 pm, and 10 minutes later, they were brought to the seminar hall, where the body was discovered.

Courts have also questioned why the police had initiated an unnatural death case and why the hospital administration, under the direction of then-principal Dr Sandip Ghosh, did not make a formal police complaint.

It wasn’t until late at night that the victim’s father made a formal report and filed a formal FIR.

With inputs from agencies

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Army says Arlington National Cemetery worker was 'pushed aside' by Trump aides

Quil Lawrence

Stephen Fowler

TRUMP CAMP ARLINGTON POLITICS

Graves with flags for Memorial Day are seen in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., on May 27. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption

The U.S. Army said an employee at Arlington National Cemetery who tried to "ensure adherence" to rules that prohibit political activities at the cemetery "was abruptly pushed aside," but that the employee decided not to press charges against the Trump campaign staffers who allegedly pushed her.

The statement Thursday comes in response to NPR's reporting on former President Donald Trump's visit to Arlington and an altercation his staff had with a cemetery employee.

"Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds," the statement said. "An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside. Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption. The incident was reported to the JBM-HH police department, but the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed."

The Army, in its statement, called the incident "unfortunate," adding: "it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked."

Because federal law prohibits Army employees from being involved with any political campaign, the staff at the cemetery did not deal directly with the Trump campaign about his visit there. A source familiar with the event said the cemetery staff worked with the staff of Republican Congressman Brian Mast of Florida, who joined Trump at Arlington.

Arlington Cemetery staff dealt directly with Mast’s chief of staff, James Langenderfer, briefing him extensively on the rules, which include no campaign events at the cemetery. They also reiterated that only an official Arlington National Cemetery photographer — and no campaign photographer — could be used at Section 60, the location of the recent American war dead. The source said Langenderfer told them the Trump campaign agreed to these rules.

Fallout continues after Trump campaign incident at Arlington National Cemetary

NPR reached out to Mast’s staff and asked if Langenderfer was briefed and relayed that information to the Trump campaign. They did not address the questions but instead released a statement.

In the statement to NPR, Mast said: "President Trump conducted no politics at Arlington National Cemetery."

The statement comes a day after Trump shared a TikTok video including footage from Arlington National Cemetery that likely violates a federal law against using military cemeteries for campaigning purposes.

NPR reported that Trump campaign staffers had a physical altercation with an Arlington National Cemetery staffer on Monday over the restriction.

It's not the first time Trump has been accused of politicizing the military, but the campaign is seeking to downplay what happened in the aftermath.

Trump campaign staff had altercation with official at Arlington National Cemetery

Trump was at Arlington on Monday to commemorate the third anniversary of an attack in Afghanistan that killed 13 U.S. service members amid the disastrous withdrawal of troops. Trump and other Republicans have blamed President Biden and Vice President Harris for the chaos and loss of life.

The 21-second video posted on Trump's TikTok account shows the former president laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and several snippets of Trump joining Gold Star family members at gravesites of their loved ones in a part of the cemetery known as Section 60 .

"We lost 13 great, great people — what a horrible day it was," Trump says over somber music. “We didn't lose one person in 18 months, and then they took over the disaster, the leaving of Afghanistan.”

Trump has been making this claim about 18 months without military casualties during his administration for years, and it’s not true. The 18-month period from February 2020 to August 2021 saw no combat-related deaths in Afghanistan, with part of that when Biden was in office.

The Trump campaign was not authorized to film or photograph in Section 60, federal law prohibits the use of military cemeteries for campaign events, and two campaign staffers got in a physical and verbal altercation with the Arlington staffer who tried to prevent the filming.

In a statement after NPR's original story, family members present Monday said they invited Trump and gave approval for his photographer and videographer to document an emotional moment of remembrance.

Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60 is a focus of controversy. What is the area?

Some of those family members also spoke at the Republican National Convention, bashing Biden and vocally endorsing Trump.

"Joe Biden may have forgotten that our children died, but we have not forgotten — Donald Trump has not forgotten," said Cheryl Juels in Milwaukee at the RNC in July. Juels is the aunt of Sgt. Nicole Gee, one of the 13 U.S. service members killed at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan in 2021.

"Joe Biden owes the men and women that served in Afghanistan a debt of gratitude and an apology. Donald Trump loves this country and will never forget the sacrifice and bravery of our service members," she added. "Join us in putting him back in the White House."

Though the loved ones said they were OK with the cameras present, the families do not have the power to suspend the rules.

The family of Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano, a Green Beret who died by suicide after serving multiple combat tours and who is buried in Section 60, said according to their conversations with the cemetery, "the Trump campaign staffers did not adhere to the rules that were set in place for this visit."

"We hope that those visiting this sacred site understand that there were real people who sacrificed for our freedom and that they are honored and respected and treated accordingly," they said in a statement.

The Trump campaign responds

In the aftermath of the visit to Arlington, the Trump campaign's response has taken on a tone of nastiness. One spokesman said the cemetery staffer was "clearly suffering from a mental health episode" and promised to release footage of the encounter but has so far declined to do so.

On the campaign trail in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, said Harris could "go to hell" over the Afghanistan withdrawal and blamed reporters for the campaign's controversy, which he called a "disagreement."

"You guys in the media, you're acting like Donald Trump filmed a TV commercial at a grave site," Vance said. "He was there providing emotional support to a lot of brave Americans who lost loved ones they never should have lost. And there happened to be a camera there, and somebody gave him permission to have that camera there.”

Trump echoed that argument Thursday, doubling down on attacks against Harris and Biden in a clip posted to his campaign's Trump Social account from a campaign event in Michigan.

"She does not respect you, ask the families of the 13 incredible servicemember heroes who died during the surrender of Afghanistan — which was surrendered by Kamala and 'Sleepy Joe' — whether or not Kamala Harris cares about our young people and our military," Trump said.

Meanwhile, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who attended the Arlington events with Trump, apologized in a social media post for sending a campaign fundraising email with a photo of him and the former president in Section 60 with the family of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover.

Cox's official gubernatorial X account posted a photo from the restricted area, and the post is still online.

This is not the first time Trump has been accused of politicizing the military for his personal gain. He has allegedly called dead soldiers " suckers" and "losers ," insulted the late Sen. John McCain for being a prisoner of war and recently stoked controversy for saying civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients are much better than those who received the Medal of Honor — the highest military award in the country, often given posthumously.

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Trump Team Clashed With Official at Arlington National Cemetery

The military cemetery said in a statement that federal law prohibits political campaigning on the grounds, and that “there was an incident, and a report was filed.”

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By Chris Cameron Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman

Chris Cameron was traveling with Donald J. Trump during his visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

• Aug. 27, 2024

Members of Donald J. Trump’s campaign team and an official at Arlington National Cemetery confronted each other during the former president’s visit to the cemetery on Monday, the military cemetery said in a statement on Tuesday.

The altercation was prompted, according to Trump campaign officials, by the presence of a photographer in a section of the cemetery where American troops who were killed in recent wars are buried. The cemetery released a statement saying that federal law prohibits political campaigning or “election-related” activities within Army cemeteries, including by photographers.

An official with the cemetery tried to “physically block” members of Mr. Trump’s team, Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said in a statement. Mr. Cheung added that the cemetery official was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode” and that the campaign was prepared to release footage of the confrontation to support its account of the clash. The campaign did not provide that footage after several requests.

Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign adviser, added in a separate statement that the cemetery official was “a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.”

Cemetery officials did not provide their own account of the encounter, saying instead that “there was an incident, and a report was filed.” In an additional statement on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the cemetery said that “to protect the identity of the individual involved, no further information about the incident is being released at this time.”

The cemetery added that it had “reinforced and widely shared” to the Trump campaign the federal laws prohibiting campaign activities by photographers “or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign.”

News of the altercation was first reported by NPR.

VoteVets, the liberal veterans group, called on Mr. Trump to fire the members of his team involved in the confrontation.

Mr. Trump had visited the cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony honoring 13 American troops who were killed in a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the United States’ withdrawal from that country three years ago. Mr. Trump has blamed President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the bombing and America’s chaotic withdrawal, and repeated his attacks on the subject in campaign events after his visit to the cemetery.

Mr. Trump had laid three wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery on Monday morning, the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing. Two of the wreaths were for Marines killed: Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover and Sgt. Nicole Gee. A third was dedicated to all 13 troops killed.

Mr. Trump was accompanied for the laying of the wreaths by family members of the slain troops, as well as Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews and Corporal Kelsee Lainhart , two Marines who were injured in the Abbey Gate attack. Sergeant Vargas-Andrews lost his right arm and left leg in the attack, and Corporal Lainhart was paralyzed in the attack and now uses a wheelchair.

Mr. Trump then accompanied the families and Marine veterans to Section 60 of the cemetery, reserved for those recently killed in America’s wars abroad, including at Abbey Gate.

That part of Mr. Trump’s visit was private and closed to the press. Mr. Cheung, the Trump campaign spokesman, pointed to a screenshot of an email that he argued gave the campaign photo access to Section 60. That excerpt, however, says that “former President Trump may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool,” but it does not suggest Mr. Trump’s photographer was given special access.

The campaign also shared text messages from family members of the veterans consenting to having Mr. Trump’s campaign media attend the event at Section 60. The campaign did not provide evidence that the cemetery gave them permission to have a photographer at Section 60 — which the cemetery said in its statement would be a violation of federal law.

Gov. Spencer J. Cox, Republican of Utah — who visited the cemetery with Mr. Trump — shared a photo from Section 60 on social media, with Mr. Trump and others in a “thumbs-up” pose around the grave of Staff Sergeant Hoover.

Chris Cameron covers politics for The Times, focusing on breaking news and the 2024 campaign. More about Chris Cameron

Jonathan Swan is a political reporter covering the 2024 presidential election and Donald Trump’s campaign. More about Jonathan Swan

Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent reporting on the 2024 presidential campaign, down ballot races across the country and the investigations into former President Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman

• General Hospital
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Sonny offered to turn himself in; General Hospital Recap for Thursday, August 29, 2024

At the penthouse, Sonny was thrilled that Carly brought Donna by for a visit, and thanked Carly, who asked Sonny how he was feeling. Sonny told Carly that he felt better since he was back on the right medication dosage. Sonny realized how erratic his behavior had been.

Carly and Sonny soon changed the subject to Lulu. Sonny was shocked to hear Luke's daughter needed a liver transplant. After Carly informed him that Laura was trying to track down Lucky, Sonny offered to get tested. Carly was surprised that Dante hadn't told Sonny the Lulu news. Sonny admitted that he and Dante hadn't been speaking much.

Carly was also concerned about the fact that Ava had called Avery and told Avery that Ava wouldn't see her for a while. Sonny wasn't surprised and informed Carly that John had taken Ava into protective custody to protect her from Sonny. "Jagger's always had an agenda, and that agenda is to take me down," Sonny said.

Meanwhile, John dragged Kristina in handcuffs down to the Port Charles Police Station to charge her with the manslaughter of baby Irene. Dex overheard John's latest charge and looked stunned. Kristina argued that she hadn't killed the baby. "Ava is the one who killed my baby when she pushed me out that window," Kristina insisted as an FBI agent led her into the interrogation room.

GH Last 4 Recaps: Monday | Friday | Thursday | Wednesday . For GH Daily Recaps Archive from 1996 to the present, Click Here

Alexis soon barged in and told Kristina to stop talking. When Alexis heard John wanted to charge Kristina with manslaughter, Alexis was blunt. "Cut the crap. This has nothing to do with Kristina and has everything to do with Sonny," Alexis said.

Alexis told John the manslaughter charge was "absurd," and she wanted to know how it was a federal crime. John explained that any residual crime to Kristina's original charge—attacking a federal witness—fell under federal jurisdiction. Alexis stressed that the baby had died after Ava had pushed Kristina, so John argued that Ava had just been defending herself.

Alexis told Kristina and John that she'd be back, and she left the interrogation room. She asked a police officer to have Dex stay with Kristina and not to leave Kristina alone with John. She headed straight to Sonny's to tell him to turn himself in so Kristina could walk free. Alexis argued that Kristina didn't have the emotional bandwidth for what John was doing. "She's stronger than you know," Sonny argued.

Sonny said he wouldn't give in to John, but Alexis didn't care. She was sure Kristina would not mentally recover from what John was doing to her. Sonny was confident that Alexis and Diane could get Kristina out of the mess, but that didn't mean much to Alexis. "Kristina needs to be saved, and I am asking you to save her," Alexis begged.

Back at the police station, Dex brought Kristina some water. Kristina insisted she hadn't killed the baby she had carried, and she just needed someone to believe her. Just then, John walked in and ordered Dex out. Dex explained that he'd been asked to watch over Kristina, but John pulled rank as a federal agent. Dex was forced to leave Kristina alone with John.

Kristina just scoffed when John told Kristina that her loyalty to Sonny had led to the baby's death. John said he could see how much pain Kristina was in. Kristina countered that John was the cause of it, but John insisted Sonny was to blame. Kristina broke down crying, but John wouldn't let up. John told Kristina he would set her free if she turned in evidence against Sonny. Kristina refused. "The only criminal I see here is you," Kristina said.

John warned Kristina not to be rude to a federal agent. "All I see here is a bully with a badge, and you, Jagger, nothing but a punk with a grudge," Kristina quipped. John advised Kristina to exercise her right to remain silent.

When Alexis returned, Kristina requested her arraignment, saying she couldn't "wait to get in front of a judge." John received a call and left the interrogation room. Sonny was on the other end of the phone, offering to turn himself in if John let Kristina go free, but first, Sonny wanted to say goodbye to his sons. John agreed to meet Sonny and arrest him at the Quartermaine mansion.

In the Quartermaine kitchen, Dante spoke with Rocco on the phone and promised that they could visit Lulu. After Dante hung up, Olivia asked how her grandson was holding up. Olivia praised Dante's decision to send Rocco to baseball camp to keep his mind off of things.

When Dante seemed pensive, Olivia checked on her son's well-being. Dante admitted he was worried that Kevin and Laura wouldn't be able to find Lucky in time to save Lulu. Dante expressed his guilt for leaving Lulu in the first place, but Olivia assured him that his PTSD wasn't his fault. "But I never would have gotten PTSD in the first place had I not gone undercover," Dante said.

Olivia reminded Dante that he'd done what he'd thought had been right at the time. Olivia understood why Dante had chosen to go away for treatment, but Dante still had regrets. He said when he'd returned home, life had been different. "Lulu had moved on, and rightly so...I left her alone, and I worry I won't be able to tell her how much I regret that decision," Dante lamented.

Dante had known it was too late for him and Lulu when he'd returned to Port Charles. "She loved Dustin Phillips, and he was a good guy and was going to make her happy," Dante said. Olivia asked Dante not to count Lulu out just yet.

Carly soon arrived for the big Quartermaine dinner. Carly spotted Dante and was surprised to see him. Carly said she'd thought Dante would have been with Lulu. Olivia left Carly and Dante alone in the kitchen, so Carly brought up Sonny. Dante said he had planned to call his father soon. Dante also got defensive when Carly innocently mentioned what Elizabeth had told her about Lulu's condition. "What do you think? That I should have noticed that something was wrong with her? Despite what everyone thinks, I did not abandon Lulu," Dante insisted.

Dante accused Carly of sounding like Tracy because Tracy had also laid into him about Lulu. Carly was taken aback because she was just making conversation. Dante didn't want to hear it. "Don't act like the concerned relative when you hurt Lulu the way you did," Dante said, referring to the time Carly paid Brook Lynn to sleep with Dante. Carly admitted she'd been wrong for what she'd done, but Dante wasn't very forgiving.

Elsewhere in the Quartermaine mansion, Violet listened in as Brook Lynn and Chase squabbled over Chase's attire for Drew's campaign dinner. Violet interrupted them to ask if she could also dress up. Brook Lynn told Violet that of course she could, and Brook Lynn even offered to do Violet's hair. Brook Lynn asked Violet how she was feeling because Violet had said she'd missed Finn and Gregory the night before.

Violet told Brook Lynn she often had an easier time during the day, and she apologized for bothering Brook Lynn at night. Chase and Brook Lynn sat Violet down to talk. Violet admitted she missed her dad and wanted to know when he was returning home. Chase did not have a solid answer, so Brook Lynn explained that Finn was sick, and medicine couldn't help. Chase explained that Finn had to put in the effort to combat it, and that took time. Violet was pleased when Brook Lynn and Chase said they loved her living with them, especially on game night.

Violet said that at least she was happy with the other kids living in Monica's house. Brook Lynn and Chase assured Violet that she was part of the family, too. Violet wanted the family to expand. "When are you guys going to have a baby?" Violet asked. Brook Lynn and Chase didn't quite know what to say, so Violet asked if they wanted a baby. Brook Lynn admitted that they did.

At Rice Plaza, Drew spoke at a podium, praising Congressman McConkey, and Curtis recorded the speech. Willow also looked on with admiration. Drew expressed his gratitude for the congressman's support, as well as the Quartermaine family's support. Drew also offered a special thanks to Willow. Michael and Willow wondered why Congressman McConkey wasn't there.

When Drew's speech was over, Michael left Willow and Drew alone together so he could take Monica to a doctor's appointment. After a few awkward moments, Willow thanked Drew for what he'd said about her during his speech. Drew stressed that it was Willow who'd made him realize how much he wanted to run for office.

Willow began feeling uncomfortable and changed the subject, wondering where Congressman McConkey was, since he had said he would be there. Drew found it odd that the congressman hadn't even left a message with his regrets.

Nearby, Curtis was curious when Portia walked away to return a text. He overheard Portia on the phone, checking on Heather's lab work, so he asked her about it when she ended the call. Portia explained that Heather had been at the hospital the night before, and Heather's new lawyer had showen up—Ric Lansing. Curtis found it odd that Scott had handed Heather's case to Ric, but Portia was more concerned about Ric being an excellent lawyer who might help Heather win.

Drew interrupted Curtis and Portia's chat and thanked them for attending the rally. Portia and Curtis praised Drew's political skills. Drew praised Curtis for picking up the slack at Aurora and doing a fantastic job while Drew had been campaigning. Curtis admitted that he loved the corporate work. After Drew walked away, Curtis and Portia realized that neither one of them had to work the next day, so they could enjoy some alone time together.

In another part of Rice Plaza, Willow found Drew shaken up. Drew had just ended a call with Congressman McConkey's wife, who had shared the news that the congressman had died that morning. Drew asked if he and Willow could talk somewhere else, so Willow agreed.

In Drew's office at Aurora Media, Drew explained that the congressman had seemed fine before suddenly collapsing. Drew felt more compelled to win the election than ever. "I want to finish what Larry started," Drew said. When Drew mentioned skipping the big family dinner at the Quartermaine mansion, Willow offered to stay with him as a friend.