In our July newsletter, we wrote about the emerging trend of microhospitals, and how several factors, including lower-cost care, smaller and more efficient space, fewer beds, and personalized patient care and attention, all contributed to the growth of this type of facility.
While it is important, and convenient, for physicians who have hospital privileges and need daily access to the hospital to have their offices located on or near campus, there has also been a focus within the medical office sector to build medical use real estate closer to where their patients live and work. With the offerings of outpatient services and surgeries, along with the rise of technologies that no longer limit the availability of many medical procedures to the on-campus environment, hospitals and medical providers have increasingly located new offices and medical service facilities in neighborhoods and suburban areas. The goal is to offer convenience to their patients, as well as reduce costs. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report and the American Hospital Association, both inpatient admissions and patient costs have decreased for many procedures over the past two decades with the rise of outpatient services.
Outpatient facilities in suburban areas offer convenience as well as easier access into a facility for not only the patients but the staff members as well. Particularly for an outpatient procedure or short visit to the doctor, these neighborhood facilities save the patient driving time and also enable them to avoid the sometimes difficult navigation of a large hospital campus or multi-story office building with intricate parking garages and long walks to their doctor’s office. The same hospital systems and healthcare providers that own the hospitals are, in many cases, also the owners of these suburban medical facilities. Although, outpatient facilities are popping up in more suburban locations, the fundamentals of commercial real estate are the same regardless of whether it is an outpatient use, inpatient use, medical office building or other medical facility.
From an ownership and investment standpoint, it is still the healthcare real estate that has the longer-term leases from larger health systems and healthcare provider tenants that tend to be purchased at the higher prices. HB Medical Real Estate wants to become a trusted resource for all your healthcare real estate needs. Feel free to reach out to us at 615-564-4133 or find us online at hbre.us.
