Breaking down walls: the new healthcare workspace transformation

As the practice of medicine evolves, so are the healthcare facilities where physicians and other professionals deliver care to patients. Organizations are grappling with cost pressures and space is at a premium in all healthcare settings from ambulatory care facilities to large hospitals. Facilities leaders must explore new approaches to designing healthcare workspaces that enable teams to use space more efficiently and better meet the needs of all healthcare staff members.

“Pandemic-accelerated digital transformation and surging patient demand are pressuring an already constrained physician space market,” explains JLL's Susan Chang, SVP, Workplace Design Advisory. “Physician spaces need optimization more than ever.”

Chang emphasizes three key innovations to help healthcare organizations confront these challenges: healthcare ecosystem mapping, strategic space allocation and right-sizing physician spaces.

Chang reflects that in her 30 years of working in the healthcare field, she often encounters reluctance to alter physicians’ offices. But physicians are often allocated private offices that can go unused for six to 10 hours a day as they fulfill their essential clinical roles and other non-administrative work; that’s 30-50 hours a week when valuable real estate is sitting empty.

“Within health systems, physicians are very influential and are held in very high regard—and for good reason,” she observes. “But in many cases, space dedicated to them isn't being used efficiently, and we want to introduce new ways of working that can deliver real benefits.”

JLL has recently proposed a plan to implement a space-sharing culture for a healthcare client. The plan involves revising their space allocation policies to emphasize maintaining clean offices and securing confidential documents in locked storage. This approach is expected to facilitate flexible workspace sharing among physicians when implemented.

The shift away from paper medical records is a key driver of the transformation happening in physician workspaces. When physicians no longer need to print out and store physical files, they don’t need dedicated space in which to keep them. At the same time, offices can be powerful symbols of professional identity for physicians. As facilities adopt new ways of allocating space, they need to address any concerns or hesitations with care—as well as provide ample spaces with acoustic privacy where physicians can focus on confidential work.

As healthcare organizations face complex challenges, building social infrastructure where space is allocated efficiently is more important than ever. Adopting innovations like healthcare ecosystem mapping, strategic space allocation and right-sizing physician offices can help facilities leaders enhance collaboration, improve efficiency and drive greater strategic alignment among their teams.

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