Americans young and old sometimes need professional medical care, and in many cases, medical maladies call for an urgent care center or walk in clinic. Only serious and life-threatening injuries and conditions actually require a hospital’s emergency room, or ER. These emergency rooms should not be treated as a catch-all for all medical cases; rather, most minor medical problems call for an urgent care center instead, which is often much cheaper and more convenient for patients anyway. When a victim needs this level of medical care, a nearby responsible adult may look up urgent care clinics in the area with an Internet search, and find one that is currently open and conveniently located. Today, all American cities and most towns have at least a few urgent care centers, and some rural areas may have them, too. In other regions, ab urgent care startup may be launched if there isn’t already an urgent care center in the area. This is a matter of business, and a smartly located urgent care startup may attract a lot of patients.
Urgent Care Centers in the United States Today
The concept of urgent care centers is relatively new, dating back to the late 1990s or so. By the year 2000, the concept of a walk in clinic had firmly taken hold, and many were built ever since then. By the year 2016, some 2,000 such facilities could be found across the United States, and urgent care startups are being built even now. Many areas in the United States such as rural communities don’t yet have an urgent care center, but an urgent care startup may change that in any given rural town.
Often, these urgent care centers are small and independent facilities, though they may sometimes be linked into small local networks with one another. A great many of these clinics are built into strip malls for ease of access and parking, but some of them may in fact be found in retailers or even in hospitals. In the former case, retail clinics can be a great convenience for shoppers, and they usually have a pharmacy with trained pharmacists on staff. This allows shoppers to easily pick up prescription drug refills during their shopping trip. Meanwhile, a hospital clinic offers distinct care from the hospital at large, and this is helpful for patients who do not actually need the hospital’s ER or doctors for care. The first retail clinic opened its doors in 2000 in Twin Cities, Minnesota, and many more have been built ever since then. The number has grown 14-fold from 2008 to 2018, meaning plenty of urgent care can be found. But what about an urgent care startup?
Launching a Startup
An urgent care start up checklist will have a number of items on it. This list is not comprehensive, but it may offer a fair idea of what this work may entail. What does it cos to start an urgent car clinic? An entrepreneur looking to open a clinic may turn to local consulting firms, and find urgent care business consulting services in particular. That, and the rental space in a strip mall will vary, with malls in busy urban areas probably costing more rent than remote ones. If a retail clinic is planned, the entrepreneur may consult the retailer’s owners to find out some costs and negotiate this effort.
Urgent care marketing strategies should be considered, too. Once a strip mall is found and space is rented, the new care center may need to reach out to potential clients. This may be done through a number of channels, such as brochures in nearby hospitals. Many strip malls will have a large outdoor sign where each business may put its brand name in a slot, and of course an urgent care center will do the same. What is more, this new urgent care center may rent ad space online, such as advertising on medical websites that local citizens might visit.
Building an urgent care center involves hiring staff, setting up a business relationship with local medical suppliers, and also hiring any necessary attorneys to ensure the paperwork is going smoothly. Inspectors may also visit the premises to ensure all safety and medical standards are being met.
