Feature Story: COVID-19 will change healthcare delivery forever

During Colliers’ HRE webinar, Advisory Board consultant discusses the landscape

By John B. Mugford

COVID concerns are still keeping some potential patients away from healthcare facilities, especially hospitals. (Source: The Advisory Board)

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed as if almost every health system and provider was looking for ways to be more efficient and streamline operations, to cut costs, to get ahead of potential disruptors to the delivery model and to shift even more care to the outpatient setting, particularly to medical office buildings (MOBs).

Today, in looking at the industry amid the pandemic, and pondering the future post-COVID world, providers of all types plan to accelerate those trends.

“For some years we’ve been taking a particular focus on disruptors, trying to differentiate hype from reality as we hear more talk of these elements that are possibly going to shake up the healthcare landscape,” said Megan Director, a senior director with Washington, D.C.-based The Advisory Board Co., a consulting firm that relies on “research, technology, and consulting to improve the performance of healthcare organizations.”

“Well, this year … we are facing a market disruptor like we haven’t seen in our lifetimes: a pandemic,” noted Ms. Director, who has been with the company for 11 years and focuses on working “with providers on their strategies and interpreting major market trends” to help them know where and how to invest in delivering services.

“There are going to be lasting implications from COVID-19 on the healthcare industry, really for the rest of our lives,” she added. “So, we can’t neglect the market forces healthcare providers were already contending with before the crisis.”

Ms. Director was a keynote presenter during the Healthcare Virtual Conference 2020 sponsored and broadcast on Sept. 24 by Seattle-based Colliers International. The moderator of her presentation, “2020 Industry Outlook: Disruptive Trends Poised to Reshape Healthcare Delivery, was Shawn Janus, Colliers’ national director of the healthcare group.

“At the beginning of the summer there was a lot of hope that

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