I. INTRODUCTION
Health care providers frequently find that they have leased too much space and can reduce their overhead expense if they can enter into a partial sublease of their office space (commonly referred to as a "medical timeshare") with another health care provider. This type of arrangement can also defray additional overhead expense if it includes the time and services of the health care provider's administrative and clinical staff as well as use of equipment. For a single physician who is just starting her practice or looking for a part-time second location, a medical timeshare within another practice is very appealing and certainly preferable to entering into a speculative lease arrangement.
Similar to executive office timeshares, medical timeshares allow physician tenants to rent space on a part-time basis (typically in four-hour times lots). The medical office space is controlled by independent physician practices or hospitals and can be tailored to meet the needs of specialists or generalists. By leasing space based on total time used, the health care provider can assess a new market and expand its patient base without the high overhead and start=up costs of a full-time office.
A hospital or other health care business may even design a traditional medical office space as a timeshare space by utilizing medical suite space located within the adjacent medical office building. The timeshare suite will typically consist of several exam rooms, a waiting room check-in desk, physician office, nurse station, etc. the hospital will purchase the furniture and equipment for each room and provide other services. Some timeshare suites will have a front desk receptionist or clinical nurse available.
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Originally published by American Health Law Association PG Briefing.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
