Colleen McPherson
Colleen McPherson is a vice president with Colliers International's national Healthcare Services Group. She's spent the last two years in Kansas City, previously spending more than a decade in the Phoenix area. As a respected 16-year industry leader in healthcare sales and leasing, her focus has been on the assets of hospital systems and real estate needs of affiliated physicians groups.
With a solid reputation for problem-solving and efficiency in completing successful real estate transactions, Colleen holds strong relationships with physicians, medical service providers, hospital systems, building owners and industry professionals.
McPherson will be an honored speaker at MetroWireMedia's 2016 Healthcare Summit on November 9. Before the panel discussion, we were curious to hear about the differences she has seen in healthcare and development since moving to the Midwest from Arizona.
As somewhat of a newcomer to Kansas City, how have you adjusted? Have you experienced any obvious differences in regards to the healthcare economy from Arizona?
COLLEEN MCPHERSON: "Siri and I have become better friends! Other than that, the ever-changing world of healthcare is really a national trend so my experience in Arizona is helpful in working with physicians, systems and REITs in the KC market as well.
"[In Kansas City,] It was a first for me to see hospital systems link a physician’s minor ownership in a building that the system was going to lease to their employment agreement. I see more system-owned medical office buildings here than in Arizona. KC is ahead of Phoenix in getting a developer owned, off-campus MOB off the ground. We haven’t seen that since the crash of ‘08 in Arizona."
What trends have you seen over the past year in the healthcare market?
CM: "The Affordable Care Act has been the big story, as well as the healthcare systems shifting to consumerism. Also, we've seen an increase of evolving care of delivery channels necessary to accommodate post-acute care required by the aging population."
Anything positive?
CM: "Young doctors are coming out of their training to focus on practice medicine purely rather that become businessmen. The employee model will promote physician accountability, collaboration and quality care. Healthcare is more proactive now; patients are more engaged. Health systems now have strategic planning directors, and there is an increase in post-acute services rather than the traditional acute care focus."
What about the negative?
CM: "Physicians that own medical office buildings and don’t control the practice interests are a risk. As hospitals continue to acquire practices there is little interest in purchasing the real estate."
Looking ahead, what factors do you think will affect the market more than others?
CM: "Tele-med and apps has impacted the service delivery method so fewer physicians will serve more patients. Baby Boomers will impact healthcare delivery more than the politics in the next several decades. Expect family practices to continue to be purchased."
What are some of the challenges you see for 2017 and the years following?
CM: "Hospital systems making changes quickly enough to accommodate post-acute needs of the aging population. Easy access to simple care is in high demand. I also see an increase in the number of primary care/urgent care visits, a decrease in number of primary care new physicians, a re-purposing of acute-care hospitals and off-campus MOBs to become consumer-centric."
What are you looking forward to in 2017 and the years following?
CM: "I look forward to an increase focus on wellness among the population as a whole, as well as continued improvements in technology, such as da Vinci robots for surgery and EMR and private rooms for patients."
Interested in hearing more from Colleen? See more details and register to attend our 2016 Healthcare Summit, which takes place next week! Sponsorship opportunities also remain; Find more information here.