How Urgent Care Franchising Boomed and Created New Healthcare Business Opportunities
By: Christine Dura
Urgent care clinics first appeared in the 1970s, and now are one of the most popular healthcare business opportunities. Urgent care visits are becoming much more preferred to ER visits by patients worldwide, creating a boom for the industry. Not only does this growth improve service options for patients, but also provides more healthcare business opportunities for physicians.
Over the last few years, patients have gotten fed up with their healthcare options. Primary care clinics can be hard to get appointments for, and the hours often don’t accommodate working families’ schedules. Sometimes, patients know they just need antibiotics for an ear infection or a renewal of a prescription, but they must jump through hoops to get the care they need.
On the other end, if patients elect to go to the emergency room for care, they often must wait for hours in uncomfortable situations and the bills can be sky high. Unfortunately for the patients that are in pain, if you have minor injuries such as broken bones, you’ll get pushed to the side for those with fatal conditions.
All this waiting is likely unnecessary. A 2009 study reported that up to 29 percent of all emergency department visits were unnecessary and could be handled in an urgent or primary care setting. More recent studies have found this percentage is only increasing.
Emergency room visits are also increasing, while the overall number of hospitals and ERs have declined. Urgent care centers are there to fill in the gap, creating important healthcare business opportunities. Patients can save about $4.4 billion per year by opting for urgent care facilities over a trip to the ER.
Urgent care centers allow patients to get the same level of care they need from a primary care clinic or the ER, but more efficiently and for cheaper. Instead of waiting for hours, they can show up and have treatment within 30 minutes. These clinics are located in more convenient places for busy families, so they can easily stop by before work or after school, and even on the weekends.
Patients around the country are clamoring for more urgent care centers in their areas, so they can receive the care they need wherever, whenever. Those who are looking to help patients in their area while establishing a business should look into healthcare business opportunities. The industry can only keep growing, and now is the time to get in the door.
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.