Urgent care and its demand are blowing up. This is because they are becoming a more convenient option for many people. Besides that, they also greatly alleviate some pressure off the main health care centers. A typical urgent care center is where you’d go if you had a medical issue that was not considered life-threatening. For instance, if you fell off the stairs and sprained your ankle, it is a medical issue that does not present the possibility of death. This is in comparison to something like vomiting blood, which will require immediate medical attention. Those that require immediate medical attention visit the emergency room (ER) of a hospital, while those with non-urgent cases like a sprained ankle go to the urgent care facility.
As such, urgent care facilities continue to spring up everywhere. With this expansion comes new business opportunities. Franchise opportunities now abound in the urgent care industry. For instance, if you go to this website for urgent care franchise model information, you’ll discover that there are comprehensive medical care packages all tailored to meet patients’ needs. The franchise model enables investors to buy into this kind of health care model, thereby owning an urgent care facility as part of a larger one. Of course, there are profits to be made, just like with any other franchise model.
As the demand for urgent care facilities increases, the franchise model for this industry will only continue to be lucrative. Below are some crucial facts about the urgent care franchise model;
1)Franchise Owners Don’t Have to be Medical Personnel
It’s a common misconception that owning an urgent care facility requires a medical background. However, this isn’t true. Any investor with the funds to purchase this franchise can own an urgent care facility. Of course, they’ll need to hire doctors and other medical personnel to administer the treatments for patients.
2) Increased Traffic
According to some estimates, the number of people visiting urgent care facilities yearly is more than 150 million. This means there’s plenty of money to be made for anyone that invests in this type of franchise.
3) Easy Accessibility
With the ease with which people can invest in urgent care franchises comes increased medical access. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for urgent care facilities to see more people than some emergency rooms. This is because more and more people are seeing the benefits of going to an urgent care facility, which is usually closer than a major health facility like a hospital.
4) Support for the Economy
The urgent care industry is set to continue to experience steady growth. With more people investing in such franchises, this industry’s value is currently valued at more than $18 billion. This, of course, offers lots of jobs and facilitates the growth of other businesses like drug stores.
5) Lower Costs
Most people don’t realize that the average cost of seeing a doctor in an urgent care facility is less than at an ER or a private clinic. For instance, you can expect to fork out an average of $156 at an urgent care facility. An ER visit can set you back as much, at least $500.
6) Outside Investment
Paying customers and other institutions are also driving the urgent care franchise business, model. For instance, insurance companies tend to buy up urgent care franchises and invest in them. One benefit to the patients is that the number of such facilities can increase dramatically, meaning more access to health care services.
7) Multi-State Urgent Care Providers
It’s not uncommon to find an urgent care franchise that has many facilities in multiple states. For instance, American Family Care is an urgent care provider with over 35 clinics in more than 40 states across the U.S.
8) Major Acquisitions
Just like in the corporate world, urgent care franchises tend to buy up smaller facilities. For instance, Doctors Express is an urgent care facility that was bought by a larger one, the America Family Care franchise.
9) Significant Initial Capital
To set up your urgent care facility, you’ll need a minimum of $750 000. This will cater to getting all the essential equipment like an X-ray machine. Buying into a similar franchise could go for about $1 million.
10) Varied Reimbursement
More than half of all medical reimbursements were by private insurance companies. This is an arrangement whereby an employer covers a portion of an employee’s medical costs. Other assistance programs like Medicare and Medicaid also covered sizeable portions of these reimbursements.
11) Good Money to be Made
On average, a big-sized urgent care franchise like the American Family Care can make around $700 000 a year. This works out at around $58 000 a month.
12) Admitting Privileges
Most doctors that work at urgent care facilities don’t require admitting privileges. This is the right accorded to doctors to admit patients for further management.
13) Huge Staff
Nearly 20 000 doctors are working for urgent care facilities. Nearly half of them are family medicine physicians, with emergency medicine doctors forming the other majority.
14) Good Remuneration
On average, a doctor working for an urgent care franchise can make anywhere between $170 000 to $179 000 annually. Those on the lower end of the pay scale make about $130 000 annually.
15) Wide Range of Service
Many urgent care franchises provide a wide range of medical services, including fracture management and lab work for blood, and other specimens, among others.
16) Huge Potential for Health Care Cost-Cutting
According to some estimates, as much as 13% of all cases treated at the ER could be managed at an urgent care facility. This, of course, could result in billions of dollars in reduced medical costs.
17) Reduced Waiting Time
Nearly sixty percent of urgent care facilities reported a patient waiting time of 20 minutes or less. This is very good compared to many ERs where it could take more than an hour to see a doctor.
