Provider Placement Strategies to Leverage Economies of Scale

The Problem

A small, critical access hospital with a strong physician practice network had specialty physician offices spread across a two-mile radius from the hospital. Aside from the lack of connectivity between practices, some clinics had outgrown their space while others had antiquated design that restricted operational flow and growth. Separately, the hospital had a number of leased spaces that represented a potentially unnecessary expense. Hospital leaders reached out to the Catalyst Team to help evaluate and recommend adjustments to the specialty practice network through determining the appropriate location and size of each clinic based on future needs and reducing the reliance on leased space.

The Approach

Interviews with the physician practice staff revealed challenges with existing space and how it inhibited physician recruitment and therefore limited volume growth. The Catalyst team evaluated the existing physician practice space against industry benchmarks and specific operational parameters to determine how much space in each practice was needed to accommodate current and future patient volumes. Vacant space located in a newly built cancer center was also evaluated as a possible outlet for practice space.

The Solution

The Catalyst Team recommended an integrated approached that relocated certain surgical specialties from leased space locations into the vacant cancer center space. This consolidation reduced the total number of leases in the system. The integrated design allowed the specialty providers to flex exam rooms as needed and share support space. Economies of scale were also achieved with the continuous back-of-house corridor and centralized shared waiting. Space was further maximized with the reduction of public toilets. Ultimately, the client experienced cost savings and practice with the new design.