As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, medical office buildings (MOBs) face new challenges and opportunities that demand attention from property owners and managers. Jen Tindle, VP of Strategic Insights, Grace Hill – KingsleySurveys, conducted the KingsleySurveys' Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis: Medical Office report, which gathered data from over 11,800 tenants nationally. Tindle’s research provides answers to many questions as it relates to medical office satisfaction – such as the areas that are thriving – and those that leave room for improvement. “In Grace Hill’s KingsleySurveys, we ask Medical Office (MOB) tenants to provide comments about what they view are the property’s strengths and weaknesses,” Tindle says. “We used Anthropic’s Claude (AI) to categorize these comments and then filtered them for the top five strengths and weaknesses.”
This analysis reveals critical insights, including the importance of effective communication and the pressing need for improved maintenance practices. Amid the shifting dynamics of healthcare real estate, industry experts offer valuable perspectives on the trends shaping the future of medical office spaces.
According to the report, a significant 51.1% of tenants ranked “good communication” as the top strength of medical offices, while only 10.8% identified communication as a weakness. Conversely, maintenance emerged as a top weakness, with 47.8% of tenants highlighting this area for improvement, compared to just 19.6% who ranked maintenance as a strength. This stark contrast underscores the importance of prioritizing effective communication to enhance tenant satisfaction while addressing maintenance challenges.
- Effective communication is essential for tenant satisfaction in medical office buildings. According to research by Saumya Shirina, Associate Professor at the School of Real Estate, RICS School of Built Environment, 97% of employees believe poor communication due to inadequate business language skills can lead to misunderstandings. Additionally, 83% report that such deficiencies negatively impact sales, profitability and operational efficiency.
Mark Chrisman PE, PhD, Health Sector Executive, Henderson Engineers, agrees with “good communication” as a key focus between tenants and the building owner. He emphasizes the importance of adapting to current trends, stating, “Adaptive re-use of existing space will continue to be a popular option for outpatient services. We have seen many outpatient care providers looking at spaces traditionally utilized for retail or office space.” This perspective highlights the need for medical offices to evolve in response to market demands, ultimately enhancing tenant satisfaction.
Shawn Janus, National Director, Healthcare Services, and Marianne Skorupski, Director, National Office Research at Colliers, add to this sentiment, noting that “larger healthcare organizations are increasingly co-locating complementary procedures to foster synergy and improve the overall patient experience. By consolidating related services in a single location, these organizations aim to streamline patient care, making it more convenient and efficient for patients to receive multiple treatments or consultations without needing to visit separate facilities.” This trend reflects a growing emphasis on efficiency and convenience, critical components of tenant satisfaction.
In today’s fast-paced environment, this emphasis on effective communication becomes increasingly critical. Gloria Mark, PhD, from the University of California Irvine, notes a significant reduction in average attention spans in a podcast from the American Psychological Association—from two and a half minutes in 2004 to just 47 seconds now. Dr. Mark states, “When you keep switching your attention among different activities, people make more errors...We also know that performance slows.” She explains that each time attention is switched, there’s a “switch cost” that requires time to reorient. For instance, medical office owners and managers may experience frequent interruptions, such as emails or phone calls, which can disrupt the flow of conversation with tenants and prevent them from fully expressing their concerns or needs. By minimizing these distractions and allowing for more focused and productive discussions, they can significantly improve overall tenant engagement and satisfaction.
Tindle expands on this in the KingsleySurveys report: “Tenants appreciate quick and responsive communication from property managers and maintenance staff. They value staff that are easy to reach by phone, email, or through online portals and provide timely updates and solutions.” The report describes a few examples of how MOB owners and managers can improve communication methods:
- Keep tenants informed with email newsletters about building events, maintenance, construction, etc.
- Promote good rapport with tenants by putting your best, friendly foot forward.
- Streamline maintenance requests via online portals and track them consistently.
- Boost response times whenever possible.
- Build community through appreciation and social events to improve tenant/property engagement.
In addition to communication being a top priority for tenants, maintenance was ranked as the worst weakness in medical offices in the KingsleySurveys' Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis: Medical Office report , signifying the continued need for boosting maintenance efficiencies across the board. Based on research from Healthcare Facilities Today, healthcare facilities face significant challenges in areas like cleanliness and hygiene, operational cost control, asset maintenance, physical security and energy efficiency. As the article notes, “the focus of the maintenance team should be on creating an environment that continuously supports the best delivery of each of these priorities.” By addressing these maintenance-related issues, medical offices can enhance patient satisfaction and ensure a safer, more efficient environment.
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