Medical Diagnosis (JPM)
CPM Shares His Vision for the Future of Medical Office Building Designs and Use
by James M. Lennox, CPM®
The following is an excerpt from the Jan/Feb 2010 issue (Volume 75, Number 1) of JPM®, Journal of Property Management.
Medical Office Buildings (MOBs) embody a unique relationship between a community of healthcare providers and their patients.
This symbiotic dynamic produces a niche real estate product with many complex and competing goals: A highly regulated industry, with constantly growing technology, must be developed, managed and maintained to produce an efficient, aesthetically pleasing, state-of-the-art environment that’s focused on the patient experience and physician satisfaction.
Further, MOBs are at the intersection of two enormous industry movements. In the real estate industry, investors are seeking a recession-proof haven. In the healthcare industry, the United States is amid one of the largest reform initiatives in its history. As a result of both movements, the utilization and design of MOBs will likely be affected.
ECONOMIC ADAPTABILITY
Currently, health systems rely upon MOBs to achieve many objectives: They provide office space for physicians to accommodate patient visits; augment critical components of their acute care facilities; and provide market access points to their service offerings network.
The roles of MOBs are expanding, as extraordinary hospital construction costs - an estimated at $1 million per bed - have caused facilities to downsize and shift their focus from in-patient to outpatient care, according to the Marcus and Millichap report: Medical Office Sector Remains Healthy in Ailing Economy. This shift has led to increased care at physicians’ offices, and ambulatory and diagnostic offices, creating opportunities for medical office buildings.
The full article is available as an online exclusive in the Jan/Feb 2010 of JPM®, Journal of Property Management.
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