Becker's Hospital Review

55 Executive Briefing In markets where Urgent Care Partners has partnered with health systems, modern urgent care sites have captured typically one-quarter to one-third of the existing legacy urgent care clinic volumes within 12 months. As health systems develop more modern urgent care platforms, Urgent Care Partners expects as much as half of the legacy urgent care volumes will be captured by these new models. Can health systems effectively operate a modern urgent care platform? The concern health system cannot operate consumer-sensitive services like urgent care should be challenged. A health system will not thrive in an information-rich environment where patients have more and more input into their own care models unless they can adapt to serving the evolving patient convenience and service demands. Granted the historical capabilities needed to operate a typical hospital and high complexity ambulatory health system platform are not the same as those needed to operate a modern urgent care platform, however, we reject the notion that this will forever be the case. In fact, a persuasive argument can be made that health systems must develop capabilities similar to those needed in a modern urgent care center for their hospital and complex ambulatory operations. Capabilities such as: customizing care to different needs, improving service, creating process efficiency, creating better access and forming relationships are quintessential for securing patient satisfaction and loyalty. However, health systems will not develop these capabilities without help. This leaves two major options for health systems: 1. Joint venture. Form a business partnership, typically a joint venture, with an urgent care provider to build urgent care sites for the health system. While this has been the dominant approach taken by health systems, it creates an arm's length relationship between the hospital and the joint venture and presents barriers for the health system to translate capabilities developed through the urgent care experience into other departments. A joint venture also limits the investment's transfer of funds to support streamlined referrals and the formation of health system patient relationships. Mercy is a good example of a successful modern urgent care platform joint venture. By entering into a joint venture with GoHealth, they have been able to add nine sites in competitive St. Louis markets with a proven model with up to 30 sites being developed system wide. Urgent Care Development Opportunity (2017)

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