The Urgency for Urgent Care

Urgent Care Centers are on the rise. There are reportedly 9,000 in the United States today, and about 500 are opening per year. Obviously, this is in part to the upcoming influx of 40 million more insured patients into the healthcare system. Yet, these “Doc in the Box” facilities have long been the black sheep of our nation’s healthcare system. My primary care physician gets aggravated every time we use one. I also get chided by my kids’ pediatrician when she learns we went to one.

But I sense they are gaining respect by other healthcare providers, payers and certainly patients.

In the last 5-10 years, the Urgent Care model has found its niche in the market, as it’s become increasingly harder to access primary care physicians. The Urgent Care model of accessible locations, extended hours and walk-ins model has significantly moved share from the ER and the physician office. It is easy to make a case that Urgent Care Centers take cost out of the system when it’s care that would otherwise go to an overcrowded ER. I am sure studies would show the primary care setting has a lower cost to deliver. But retail clinics might actually add cost to the systems as a whole, because when they open, ERs and physician offices don’t reduce capacity or their care footprint to make room.

As one proprietor of an Urgent Care center describes what they do: “No urgent care centers accept ambulances. To get here, you have to be largely able to walk, maneuver on crutches or get to our door so we can scoop you up in a wheelchair. For the most part, the people who come here are unsure of what’s wrong with them.”

Urgent Care Centers often handle X-rays, perform CLIA-waived lab tests, and have a procedure room for casting, suturing, wound debridement, abscess drainage, foreign body removal, and other minor medical procedures. They typically have an automated external defibrillator for resuscitation of people with cardiac arrest, although once stabilized, such patients are transferred by ambulance to a hospital emergency room. This is a pretty wide array of expertise to be able to handle efficiently and with high rates of success, but this huge variance in cases received makes Urgent Care Centers of great interest to Hospitals. It is estimated that now more that 28 percent of Urgent Care Centers are owned by hospitals, as opposed to 25 percent in 2008, according to a survey. I would bet in three years that number will be even higher!

As Corporate and National Account Executives, you will want to keep an eye on Urgent Care Centers, and craft a segmentation strategy. If your products are prevalent in the physician office setting and applicable to Urgent Care Centers, I’d love to hear your success stories and challenges. One thing for sure is this is a growing segment that you will want to plan on servicing for years to come!

To learn more about Urgent Care Centers, check out this feature in The Journal of Healthcare Contracting: http://www.jhconline.com/pace-is-picking-up-for-urgent-care-centers.html