Medical Office Building Trends: Part of a Bigger Healthcare Picture
Creating a more accessible, financially sustainable healthcare system
Article Summary
Medical office buildings (MOBs) and outpatient facilities are playing an increasingly important role in how health systems expand access, manage costs and strengthen networks of care. As organizations navigate financial pressures, workforce constraints, policy uncertainty and changing patient expectations, successful ambulatory growth strategy requires more than selecting a site. It requires aligning market demand, services, workforce and facility investments with the health system's broader strategy.
Key Takeaways
- Align ambulatory investments with long-term financial, network and market goals.
- Select locations that improve access while supporting coordinated care across the health system.
- Design adaptable outpatient facilities that can evolve with changing care models and workforce needs.
Medical office buildings are not new, but their role within health systems continues to evolve. Outpatient care already accounts for more than half of health system revenue, and volumes are expected to continue shifting toward outpatient settings, according to the Advisory Board1. As this trend accelerates, health systems are becoming more strategic about where, how and why they invest in ambulatory care.
6 Factors Driving Demand for Medical Office Buildings
How Ambulatory Growth Fits into Healthcare Capital Strategy
Today’s medical office buildings are part of a modern healthcare ecosystem and infrastructure designed to deliver the right care, in the right place and at the right time. For health systems, the challenge is determining where, when and how to invest. That means weighing opportunities to expand access and market presence against financial sustainability, workforce capacity and competing capital priorities.
Financial sustainability is core to many healthcare capital decisions today. Health systems must look beyond where there’s demand to where and how they can deliver sustainable, long-term care.
That requires looking at each investment as part of a broader healthcare real estate portfolio strategy. Before adding another location, health systems can consider which capabilities a market needs, how existing assets are performing and how the broader portfolio can best support those needs. That may mean consolidating services, repositioning or expanding existing facilities, or investing in new space where it adds the greatest value. The goal is to make each capital decision in the context of the entire network, rather than one facility at a time.
How to Select Medical Office Building Sites Based on Community Needs
When a broader portfolio strategy identifies the need for a new or expanded location, selecting the right ambulatory site becomes critical. As health systems expand their ambulatory networks, demographics, market analytics and healthcare real estate development expertise can help organizations understand where patients are, what services a community needs and where investment can best serve the market.
Access is more than just being where the people are, it’s about strengthening the health system’s network and creating stronger pathways for coordinated care. The right location can help capture lives, connect patients to the right services and keep more of their care within the system.
Questions to consider when evaluating a site include:
- Is the community growing, and will demand continue to increase? Consider population growth, demographics, chronic disease prevalence and other factors that influence future utilization.
- Can this location support sustainable outpatient growth? Evaluate healthcare spending, reimbursement dynamics and broader market conditions that may impact long-term viability.
- Is the site accessible and convenient for patients? Consider travel times, transportation access, commuting patterns and nearby amenities that support patient convenience.
- How does this location strengthen the health system's network? Assess existing service coverage, referral patterns, care coordination opportunities and gaps in access across the market.
- How is care shifting in this market, and are we positioned for the future? Evaluate which procedures and services are migrating from hospitals to ambulatory settings, ASCs and medical office buildings, and whether the location supports those long-term trends.
- What role will this investment play in the broader portfolio strategy? Consider how the site could improve market share, relieve capacity constraints, expand access to underserved communities or create new pathways into the health system.
The strongest site decisions balance community need with the needs of the broader network. Entering a growing or underserved market can create an opportunity to establish relationships with patients earlier, expand access to needed services and connect patients with care across the health system.
Expanding Access in an Underserved Community
In Grand Island, Nebraska, CHI Health saw an opportunity to expand access and create a more connected care experience for an underserved community. Its new Family Health Center brings primary care, specialty services, behavioral health, imaging, lab and physical therapy together in one location, rather than requiring patients to navigate services across multiple sites. With 49 exam rooms, five procedure rooms and capacity for up to 30 providers, the center gives CHI Health room to expand services as community needs evolve and is expected to support more than 500 patient visits each week when fully staffed.
The right location looks different in every market. Providence Health Center - Reed's Crossing brings healthcare into a growing mixed-use community in Hillsboro, Oregon, while Hennepin Healthcare's Redleaf Center for Family Healing expands access to specialized outpatient mental health and parenting services in an urban setting.
Located within a growing mixed-use community, Providence Health Center - Reed’s Crossing helps extend Providence’s network and several service lines closer to patients.
How Co-Location Can Improve Ambulatory Efficiency
Access is only part of the equation. With continued workforce constraints and pressure to manage operating costs, health systems are also looking for ways to make better use of their people, space and resources.
Co-locating primary and specialty care with imaging, diagnostics, ambulatory surgery and other services can simplify the patient journey while allowing organizations to share staff, infrastructure and support services. It can also help optimize provider time and make better use of physical assets.
Kaiser Permanente’s Everett Specialty Center demonstrates that approach. To expand specialty and outpatient care in Washington’s growing Snohomish County, Kaiser Permanente brought multiple specialties together with imaging, infusion, pharmacy and ambulatory surgical services. The specialty hub gives patients access to more services in one location while creating opportunities to share resources and support care teams more efficiently.
Design Ambulatory Facilities to Adapt as Care Models Change
The growth of ambulatory care doesn't mean hospitals are disappearing or necessarily becoming smaller. Instead, health systems are becoming more deliberate about which services need to remain in acute care settings, and which can be delivered effectively in outpatient, community-based, virtual or home-based environments. That makes flexibility increasingly important in outpatient facility planning. When approaching construction in healthcare facilities, standardized spaces, adaptable infrastructure and flexible clinical environments can help health systems respond as service demand, staffing models and technology change.
Virtual care is part of that evolution. Rather than simply reducing the need for physical space, digital tools and technology are changing how patients and providers move between virtual and in-person care. Kaiser Permanente's Everett Specialty Center, for example, includes flex-ready exam rooms that support both in-person and virtual visits, giving the organization options as care models evolve. The goal isn't to predict exactly how healthcare will be delivered decades from now. It's to create enough flexibility to respond as patient needs, technology and care delivery continue to change.
What Makes a Medical Office Building Successful
Successful medical office building development starts with a bigger question than what to build. Health systems need to understand where care is needed, which services belong there, how teams will deliver that care and whether the investment supports broader financial and market goals. The strongest medical office buildings do more than add space. They help health systems expand access, strengthen networks and position care closer to the communities they serve.
[1] Advisory Board: "Setting up your ambulatory network for the future," 2025