CREJ

January 2020 — Health Care Properties Quarterly — Page 17 www.crej.com Gone are the days of formal recep- tion desks. At Children’s Hospital, check-in occurs via a kiosk, with a more relaxed, informal interac- tion from a nearby attendant. To accommodate telehealth, rooms are designed for conferencing and IT costs have become a bulk of the budget – and space – compared to the minimal resources required for it in years past. Exiting the hospital setting, learn- ing services and speech therapy are more common now in outpatient facilities, as well as gastroenterology procedures. It’s not only more conve- nient, but also the evolution of hospi- tal services to ambulatory facilities is saving families time and money. “Patient satisfaction is measured most by how soon you talk to a person, identify the problem and perform diagnostics,” said Carr. And there are times when that can only be done in person. “There are pieces of information that happen through physical exams – there’s no way get- ting around it,” said Martin. “With pediatrics, children and infants are not able to tell the story so well.” While hospitals and outpatient facilities are here to stay, Carr pre- dicts that in the future, hospital campuses will not become larger, but rather will adjust to specialized services. He also suspects that archi- tects soon will be repurposing park- ing structures as driverless cars enter the mainstream. It’s a far a departure from those early space planning days when the biggest concern was physical records, but with it comes hope for continued advancements, and until then, the promise of easier, accessible and more comfortable care. s Dvorak Continued from Page 12 preplanning stages to find ways to complete life support and other critical system electrical tasks de-energized. Construction or design professionals should design projects with the out- age in mind. Attempt to design in a way that all additions to your essential electrical system are as far down- stream toward the end of the electrical system as possible. Another opportuni- ty is to find spare distribution that can be de-energized and add new essential loads downstream of these “safe to isolate” circuits. When planning for any energized electrical work, we recommend the development of a detailed method of procedure. It is best to preplan to mitigate risk. It is important to address what absolutely cannot be de-ener- gized and, if there were to be a loss of power to these systems, how to get the critical circuits refed and back on line quickly. The MOP also should address best practices for safety of patients, health care workers, the general pub- lic and the electrician. Planning for known duration, controlled outages is the goal. You want to avoid the unfore- seen, unknown outage any way you can. When it comes to health and safety, commitment starts at the top.We want our customers and all organiza- tions to have a clearly defined and well communicated electrical safety pro- cess in place to protect their employ- ees, guests and their company. s Engelstad Continued from Page 13 rience. Marketers have recognized that the next generation of consumers, who are moving from discretionary spending to necessity spending, are more willing to pay for experiences than products. Health care has adapted to this trend as well. Health care facilities are integrating technology and design elements into the delivery model to provide unique experiences in addi- tion to core health care services. Art tours along the hospital walls, on-site fine dining venues, activities such as gyms and parks within the health care campus are all intended to provide the consumer with a multifaceted health care experience. Q Flexibility and integration. Single- point bricks and mortar stores are closing at ever increasingly high rates. According to Forbes, approximately 3,800 more stores will close by 2020. In turn, the retail reach has extended to social media, niche markets, spe- cialty shops, pop-ups and markets within markets, such as The Market at Macy’s. These shops are part of a broad integrated strategy that allows for quick changes to products and service lines at a lower cost to the company. Health care systems are respond- ing similarly by expanding to niche markets in their communities often through developer driven partner- ships in outpatient settings. Health care research and consulting firmThe Advisory Board notes that roughly 59% of surgeries were performed in hospi- tals in 2005, with the remainder being performed in ambulatory surgical cen- ters. By 2020, it is expected that those numbers will have flipped. Similarly, Healthcare Finance magazine reported that from 2008 to 2015, emergency room visits for low-acuity conditions dropped by 36%, while urgent care centers experienced a 119% increase in visits. By partnering with developers for community based multi-mix MOBs, health care is benefiting from lower- cost ambulatory settings, the ability to quickly flex services, and capitalizing on high-traffic areas and improved visibility.Without the long-term com- mitment of owned space and the large capital outlay that accompanies it, health care systems can provide targeted market services within their communities and can change service lines as population health shifts occur Conclusion Do these trends signal the end to tra- ditional brick and mortar health care settings? Not likely.We will always need acute hospitals and face-to-face provider interaction but shifting health care delivery platforms will continue to impact the real estate landscape. As David Martin, CCIM, senior vice president-development MBRE explains, “The opportunity for health care deliv- ery innovations has never been greater. Given consumer expectations and technology advances, an abundance of remarkable new health care environ- ments is just on the horizon.” Today’s designers and architects must ensure the built environment supports these trends in the most efficient and cost-effective manner as possible. s Mettlach Continued from Page 9