Physician Leaders’ Role in the Development of “Smart” Ambulatory Medical Facilities

The U.S. healthcare industry has launched the next wave of major facilities expansions — especially the larger, multiregional systems. Much of the focus will be on larger-scale, specialized, ambulatory medical services facilities housing sophisticated outpatient medical and surgical specialty care, including urgent and emergent care, along with specialized rehabilitation services. This era of medical facilities development will require what has been largely absent from efforts of the past: the active and early-on engagement of physician leaders. The physician leaders’ role in the design and development of “smart,” specialized, ambulatory medical and surgical facilities begins with the vision and carries through to the “ribbon cutting.” The central questions answered here address the “why and how” of the physician leader’s role in this next phase in the development of ambulatory healthcare delivery.