And hospitals also have to be smarter now about how they use their dollars, Vasquez explained. “They will be paid on value and outcomes rather than services and procedures, and that model will happen whether we like it or not.” She added that patient expectations are very much like a retail mind with many patients spending the time to do research on the provider on the facilities and on the costs.

As for technology's role in facilities, Vasquez said that cybersecurity is of the upmost importance. And when looking at facilities, where data will be stored is key. “Data centers and access to data is very important when making decisions. We are seeing leaders be consistent and demanding about technology.”

The healthcare industry progresses to transform, as it responds to the two prong directive of serving a growing patient population while controlling the inflation in the price of the services it delivers. In addition to market pressures, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act is just one of the legislative/regulatory issues that could potentially affect healthcare real estate. RealShare Healthcare covered this year's trends in regulation, space, patient capacity, cost and technology and how these major issues will impact real estate development, investments and facility design. Check back with GlobeSt.com in the next day or so for more coverage from the event, including challenges, opportunities and trends that are driving development demand, which techniques real estate experts can use to meet the needs of providers and much more.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ—The wants and needs of patient care is changing. Patients want care later in the evening, on the weekends, and virtually. It is that reason that hospitals are really think about how to accommodate. They are accommodating with small community-based clinics closer to where patients live and work.

Those thoughts are according to speaker Crystal Vasquez, director of solutions innovation for American Hospital Association. Vasquez joined moderator Sule Aygoren, editor in chief of ALM's Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com, for a keynote fireside chat at RealShare Healthcare, held here at the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa on Thursday.

What asked about whether or not we can expect to see more facilities built in rural communities, Vasquez said we have seen some of the larger hub hospitals build relationships in the rural communities and formed collaborations in those communities and that is a trend she expects will continue. “Some hospitals are building stand up free facilities,” she said, pointing to the University of Chicago Medicine as an example, which recently built a $61-million ambulatory center to serve Chicago's south and southwest suburbs.

Other hospitals are doing similar things, she said, to give consumers services closer to home. For example, in 2016, Walgreens and Advocate Health Care revealed that Advocate will own and operate the 56 Healthcare Clinics at Walgreens stores across the greater Chicagoland area with the retail clinics strengthening care coordination for patients, while also furthering overall convenience and access.

And hospitals also have to be smarter now about how they use their dollars, Vasquez explained. “They will be paid on value and outcomes rather than services and procedures, and that model will happen whether we like it or not.” She added that patient expectations are very much like a retail mind with many patients spending the time to do research on the provider on the facilities and on the costs.

As for technology's role in facilities, Vasquez said that cybersecurity is of the upmost importance. And when looking at facilities, where data will be stored is key. “Data centers and access to data is very important when making decisions. We are seeing leaders be consistent and demanding about technology.”

The healthcare industry progresses to transform, as it responds to the two prong directive of serving a growing patient population while controlling the inflation in the price of the services it delivers. In addition to market pressures, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act is just one of the legislative/regulatory issues that could potentially affect healthcare real estate. RealShare Healthcare covered this year's trends in regulation, space, patient capacity, cost and technology and how these major issues will impact real estate development, investments and facility design. Check back with GlobeSt.com in the next day or so for more coverage from the event, including challenges, opportunities and trends that are driving development demand, which techniques real estate experts can use to meet the needs of providers and much more.