By: Christine Dura
The one truism of the Affordable Care Act is that this legislation created the empowered patient. The empowered patient evolved from technology, transparency and a lack of primary care providers needed to service the patient population. What the empowered patient demands from the medical marketplace is better outcomes, at a lower cost, delivered in a shorter cycle. What does the empowered patient expect from healthcare? The exact same level of service, choices and access they receive from any other retail provider.
This shift in demand for alternative methods of healthcare delivery models has fostered an entrepreneurial spirit among thought leaders and a boom in healthcare franchising and healthcare business opportunities. To meet this growing demand general and specialized healthcare franchises have begun to emerge in shopping and commercial centers across the nation. Entrepreneurs and medical professionals have very quickly realized that the cost to own and operate these healthcare franchises are far less expensive than traditional practices and that both the patient and provider experiences are vastly superior.
Mary Beth Kuzmanovich, National Director of Healthcare Services for the real estate giant Colliers, confirmed this trend in a January of 2016 statement. Kuzmanovich was quoted “In a push to lower cost healthcare providers have been shifting care away from hospitals to outpatient facilities for several years. This ongoing movement further increases demand for medical office space. Existing facilities will have to be renovated and new buildings will need flexible designs to keep up with emerging healthcare technology, which is transforming how and where patient care is delivered.”
Healthcare franchises are also positioned to more quickly adapt, and adopt, consumer focused technology into their business models more efficiently and effectively. One of the best examples of the win-win between patient and provider in the new age of healthcare retailization is OrthoNOW, the nation’s only orthopedic urgent care franchise.
Christine Dura, the brand’s Chief Development Officer, said “OrthoNOW as a viable business model was made possible by the transformation of the healthcare industry from 2010 to present. The ability to offer a patient first line access to a specialist versus the traditional emergency room scenario; referral to a specialist after initial contact with an ER doctor, answers a critical need of the empowered patient”. Further, we can offer our mobile app, at no cost, including a revolutionary feature called On My Way NOWTM that allows the patient to find the nearest center, alert the staff they are coming, upload pictures of their injury and a description, and summon Uber to transport them to the awaiting specialist medical team should they be unable to transport themselves”.
The retailization of healthcare meets and exceeds the patient demand to consume medical services at healthcare franchises and that smart investors nationwide are eagerly looking for healthcare business opportunities that provide ground-floor entry into this lucrative new form of retail.
OrthoNOW is the first and only Orthopedic franchise. Contact Christine Dura at Christine@orthonowcare.com for more information about franchise opportunities.
Christine has over 25 years of quantifiable executive management and franchise related leadership experience within the US and internationally with notable franchise startups in the service, technology, retail, food, health and wellness, financial service, medical care, technology and professional services. As a Senior Franchise Executive and Entrepreneur, Ms. Dura has been both an individual contributor and has successfully led world-class teams.
Ms. Dura excels at partnering with all core business operations to significantly increase the company’s foot print, expand market share, and generate sustainable revenue and EBIT gains. Her proven successes, combined with her Master Degree in Training and Development, have shaped Ms. Dura’s uncanny ability to identify opportunities, build mutually rewarding partnerships and produce remarkable results.
In addition, as a four-time Master and Unit Franchise Owner, Ms. Dura is in a very unique position to leverage her experiences and reputation at all levels in franchising along with her vast personal and professional investor network to drive immediate and long term results. As OrthoNOW’s Chief Development Officer her role is to identify critical gaps in franchise growth and implement strategies to drive results. Her unique background allows her to leverage past experiences and solid reputation to spearhead OrthoNOW’s national expansion plans.