With little choice but to adopt virtual care options due to pandemic restrictions and interactions, telehealth adoption soared as patients sought convenience and more efficient care options. Virtual visits peaked at 52 percent of visits in the second quarter of 2020 and since then have stabilized to around 11 percent, according to May 2021 data from Chartis Group, up from a pre-pandemic utilization of less than 1 percent in early 2020. But telehealth is not replacing the physical office by any means. JLL Healthcare’s new patient consumer survey results reveal that 62 percent of care visits were exclusively in person with no virtual care component. Of the respondents who noted having virtual care components, about 31 percent resulted in a physical office visit, suggesting telehealth’s position as an augmentation to the physical office, rather than a replacement.
“Physical facilities are still at the center of the healthcare ecosystem,” said Jay Johnson, U.S. Practice Leader, JLL Healthcare. “Virtual care via telehealth is replacing some in-person visits, but nearly three quarters of the care still involved a physical location according to our survey results. Telehealth is actually leading to subsequent in-person care interactions that might not have occurred otherwise. Steady occupancy of 91 to 92 percent in the national medical office market over the past three years, coupled with slightly increasing rental rates, seem to bear out the durability of physical sites of care.”
Overall, convenience wins, with 83 percent of patients traveling less than 30 minutes to access care and 40 percent travelling less than 15 minutes. Unsurprisingly, primary care and urgent care visits were most likely to have had shorter travel times. Visits to surgery centers required the longest amounts of travel, with 31 percent traveling 30 minutes or more. Patients continue to prioritize locational convenience over facility quality, which has remained true since 2020.
![Preference of future telehealth visit](/sites/default/files/inline-images/image003.png)
According to the 2022 survey, virtual components of care were more common in the Northeast and West (41 percent and 43 percent respectively), in comparison to the Midwest and South (32 percent and percent respectively). Specifically, 75 percent of behavioral health/psychiatry clinic respondents had a virtual component to care.
Seventy-six percent of all respondents who have had a telehealth visit since July 1, 2021 would prefer telehealth visits in the future. However, preferences in care differ based on patient community, with urbanites more likely than others to request a telehealth appointment for an initial consultation, suggesting that even in a dense urban community with more options for care available, convenience still prevails. Only 36 percent of urbanites traveled less than 15 minutes to a healthcare facility, compared to 45 percent of suburbanites, which also alludes to why telehealth is more likely to be embraced in urban settings.
“Telehealth’s convenience will make it here to stay as a facet of the healthcare industry, and in turn, its accessibility will result in more in-person care,” said Richard Taylor, President, JLL Healthcare. “Because of this, systems need to embrace telehealth and invest in strengthening the performance and capabilities of their technology platforms.”
The JLL Healthcare Patient Survey was conducted via Engine Insights with a nationally representative group of U.S. residents from January 3, 2022 to January 12, 2022. The number of respondents totaled 4,060, in which 52 percent were female and 48 percent were male.
JLL Healthcare provides a full range of real estate and facilities solutions for hospitals, physicians and other care providers as well as real estate investors that own and operate medical and seniors housing properties. JLL Healthcare helps clients plan, find, finance, buy, lease, sell, construct, optimize, manage and maintain the most-advantageous facilities anywhere in the US for all property types along the continuum of care, serving over 350 million square feet of healthcare property annually. Visit us.jll.com/healthcare to learn more.
Related Stories
Architects | Oct 4, 2023
Architects and contractors underestimate cyberattack risk
Design and construction industry firms underestimate their vulnerability to cyberattacks, according to a new report, Data Resilience in Design and Construction: How Digital Discipline Builds Stronger Firms by Dodge Construction Network and content security and management company Egnyte.
Building Materials | Oct 2, 2023
Purdue engineers develop intelligent architected materials
Purdue University civil engineers have developed innovative materials that can dissipate energy caused by various physical stresses without sustaining permanent damage.
Giants 400 | Sep 28, 2023
Top 100 University Building Construction Firms for 2023
Turner Construction, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., STO Building Group, Suffolk Construction, and Skanska USA top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest university sector contractors and construction management firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue for all university/college-related buildings except student residence halls, sports/recreation facilities, laboratories, S+T-related buildings, parking facilities, and performing arts centers (revenue for those buildings are reported in their respective Giants 400 ranking).
Construction Costs | Sep 28, 2023
U.S. construction market moves toward building material price stabilization
The newly released Quarterly Construction Cost Insights Report for Q3 2023 from Gordian reveals material costs remain high compared to prior years, but there is a move towards price stabilization for building and construction materials after years of significant fluctuations. In this report, top industry experts from Gordian, as well as from Gilbane, McCarthy Building Companies, and DPR Construction weigh in on the overall trends seen for construction material costs, and offer innovative solutions to navigate this terrain.
Multifamily Housing | Sep 26, 2023
Midwest metros see greatest rent increase in September 2023
While the median monthly price of rent has increased by 0.71% in August, the year-over-year estimates show a national change of -0.06 percent.
Data Centers | Sep 21, 2023
North American data center construction rises 25% to record high in first half of 2023, driven by growth of artificial intelligence
CBRE’s latest North American Data Center Trends Report found there is 2,287.6 megawatts (MW) of data center supply currently under construction in primary markets, reaching a new all-time high with more than 70% already preleased.
Data Centers | Sep 15, 2023
Power constraints are restricting data center market growth
There is record global demand for new data centers, but availability of power is hampering market growth. That’s one of the key findings from a new CBRE report: Global Data Center Trends 2023.
Contractors | Sep 12, 2023
The average U.S. contractor has 9.2 months worth of construction work in the pipeline, as of August 2023
Associated Builders and Contractors' Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 9.2 months in August, down 0.1 month, according to an ABC member survey conducted from Aug. 21 to Sept. 6. The reading is 0.5 months above the August 2022 level.
Contractors | Sep 11, 2023
Construction industry skills shortage is contributing to project delays
Relatively few candidates looking for work in the construction industry have the necessary skills to do the job well, according to a survey of construction industry managers by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Autodesk.
Giants 400 | Sep 5, 2023
Top 80 Construction Management Firms for 2023
Alfa Tech, CBRE Group, Skyline Construction, Hill International, and JLL top the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.