Major health system achieves growth through location technology innovation

In the high-stakes world of healthcare, the right location strategy can play a pivotal role in expanding patient access and market share. Recognizing this powerful potential, a leading health system in the Southeastern United States set out on a journey to expand care delivery with data-driven real estate decisions.

To gain the portfolio clarity it takes to attract new patients while driving business outcomes, the health system needed a technology-forward real estate partner with advanced, comprehensive capabilities. In 2016, the health system forged a transformative alliance with the JLL healthcare team, ultimately entrusting the team to manage transaction strategy across its extensive portfolio, which today spans 1,600 physical locations and 3.7 million patients—or about 80 percent of the state’s population.

Since the partnership began, the organization’s real estate transformation has helped make it the one of the largest healths system in the Southeastern U.S. From the beginning, JLL’s dedicated team stepped consistently up to the challenge, delivering results early on by leveraging innovative proprietary tools like OneMap and Rex—coupled with expert advisory—to drive growth with operational efficiency.

One location proves an exemplary story of JLL’s tech-fueled approach: a bustling city just outside of Atlanta, which the health system sought to enter with the right mix of services, in the most appropriate locations.

Navigating the complexities of multi-campus plans and changing resource allocations is daunting for any health system looking to expand its facilities’ reach. To ensure the most-impactful site selection within a 7.5-mile radius in the city, the project team needed to determine which locations would best reach patients in areas not already overpopulated with doctors. The team would need to work collaboratively and with deep industry insight to overcome external factors along the way, including industry disruptions and rising labor and construction costs.

The key: a best-in-class technology consulting program enabling the health system’s leaders to evaluate real estate opportunities with submarket and site selection targeting. From patient demographics and competition analysis to transportation networks, payor mix, property and lease data, and physician profiles, JLL’s technology brought together eight layers of holistic data, equipping the health system’s leaders to make timely, confident decisions. Using JLL’s advanced GIS analytics platform, OneMap, and Rex, the market survey integration tool, the health system’s leaders explored important questions along the way, such as "How much money do residents here spend on healthcare annually?" or "Where are there physician shortages?” and “Which areas are already oversaturated with providers?"

Together with JLL's transaction and ambulatory strategy expertise, the health system could make and enact informed location decisions while understanding healthcare real estate patterns and scoring potential sites based on what matters to patients and business strategy.

Mastering health system growth takes granular data—and a full-spectrum of analysis and support to turn nuanced insights into optimal courses of action. In some cases, JLL’s OneMap reveals areas with the highest desirability for healthcare, like high income and high population. Without added insight into physician counts and specialties, systems run the risk of entering already oversaturated markets. JLL’s healthcare real estate experts helped the health system consider the range of considerations to look holistically at the landscape and prioritize accordingly.

In addition to targeting optimal sites with masterful analytics, JLL facilitated the acquisition of three new medical office buildings holding long-term leases, achieving record-breaking cap rates and bringing the health system greater control over its assets. JLL also represented the health system in five new locations including equity participation and profit-sharing for additional savings and offsetting of buildout requirements. The collaborative team helped the health system dispose of surplus locations to garner further savings, as well as strategically consolidating disparate practices under one roof on four occasions, deepening efficiencies when and where it made business sense.

In every transaction, minimized downtime during ramp-up and accurate space allocation paved the way for immediate operational success, while streamlined processes and informed decision-making enabled the health system to leapfrog missteps, maximize efficiency and enhance patient care.

"Before working with JLL we didn’t have access to these kinds of tools and insights. The results have been so positive that moving forward, we won’t make location decisions without the deep market visibility we now have at our fingertips as a result of this partnership.”

- Health System Vice President

Through more than 150 transactions encompassing 850,000 square feet, JLL has been the health system's trusted advisor, representing the healthcare provider’s clinical needs and driving real estate strategy. The team’s tech-fueled approach, combined with expert advisory services, has not only facilitated the health system's growth but also ensured that new facilities are strategically positioned to meet patient demands and enhance healthcare delivery.

Since the JLL partnership formed in 2016, the health system has become one of the largest health providers in the Southeast—the ultimate testimony to the impact of optimizing portfolio growth. Today, the health system is poised for continued expansion and ongoing excellence, with the confidence of knowing its real estate plays a vital role in optimizing patient access and improving both the patient and caregiver experience.

Ready to kick-start the search for your next healthcare location or discuss how to best optimize your portfolio? Contact JLL’s team of healthcare expert today.