My time here at the ASHE PDC Summit is coming to a close. It’s been an interesting few days in Phoenix, and I’ll be sharing more with all of you over the course of the next few days once I return back home to Cleveland.

Initially, my overall take-away from this conference is that as the planning, design, and construction community, we all need to brace ourselves for what the future of healthcare holds and build facilities that reflect that.

The problem is, the future remains rather uncertain. As they say, the only thing we know for sure is that we don’t know what’s going to happen.

But that’s the point—we all need to be thinking about the uncertain environment healthcare exists in today. It sounds like the consensus is in, and whether it be Obamacare or other legislative changes that push reform, or the simple cost-influenced need to move from volume-based care to value-based care, change is not only afoot, but it’s inevitable.

If anyone needed to hear it from the horse’s mouth for how this will affect future building projects, attendees of PDC got that yesterday during the CEO Forum, when the executives voiced their need for flexible facilities.

And while the need for flexible facilities cannot be argued, healthcare futurist Ian Morrison, PhD, touched on an interesting question during this morning’s closing plenary—Healthcare systems want flexible facilities, but are they willing to pay for them?

Chances are, building not only a physical space but the infrastructure necessary to provide the level of flexibility desired will bump up any price tag. And when the cost of healthcare was probably the second most commonly discussed topic over the course of our days here in Phoenix, it leaves the need for some resolution to be found.

I’ll be writing more articles and blogs to come out of the PDC Summit and hope to hear from some of you on where you think we’re all heading in coming years. Safe travels to those heading home!