Whilborne Medical Center (WMC) is a multispecialty health care facility situated in proximity to an industrial park. Its management is planning to start a new economic initiative in the form of an urgent care center (UCC) within WMC’s premises. The UCC will not only help provide quality health care to the community but also provide an additional revenue stream for WMC. The objective of this business case is to present a detailed report on the feasibility and cost–benefit considerations of implementing the proposed economic initiative over the next five years. The business case includes an evaluation of various risks and opportunities associated with the new initiative. It recommends ways to lessen the risks associated with setting up the UCC and strategies for controlling costs and maximizing benefits.
An economic and environmental analysis was performed to determine the opportunities and risks associated with the UCC. WMC is situated near Maxima Industrial Park. Most of the patients treated at WMC are among the 30,000 workers from different companies in the industrial park. Additionally, the area has around 3,000 locals. The UCC may cater to the nonemergent needs of both the workers from the park and the locals in the area.
UCCs present an opportunity to reduce overcrowding in the ED at WMC. Often, EDs have to tend to patients whose cases are urgent, but do not merit the emergent care that EDs provide (Qin, Prybutok, Prybutok, & Wang, 2015). Non-emergent cases can be diverted to the UCC, where health care personnel will be able to treat workers of the industrial park who walk in with work-related injuries or for preventive care. Additionally, any urgent health care needs of the local community may be met by the UCC. The ED will be able to exclusively tend to the more emergent cases, while the UCC will exclusively tend to the urgent care cases received by WMC. Thus, an additional revenue stream for WMC will be created with the addition of the UCC.
Additionally, UCCs must serve a high number of patients to break even (Yee, Lechner, & Boukus, 2013). Therefore, location near a target patient population is an important factor in the success of a UCC (Gurganious & Greenfield, 2015). The required target population for the UCC is found in the 30,000 workers employed at Maxima Industrial Park. WMC has developed a relationship with workers from the park through the annual health checkups it organizes. The UCC can benefit from this relationship as there is a high likelihood that employees who are satisfied with the care they received at WMC will return to the UCC for urgent care issues.
A competitor analysis conducted in the area shows that there are two primary health clinics, but no UCCs in WMC’s vicinity. Most patients prefer primary health clinics over UCCs and EDs (Qin et al., 2015). This issue is mitigated by the number of work hours that EDs and UCCs have over primary health clinics. With the introduction of a UCC, patients will be able to avail after-hours health care for minor illnesses on any day of the week at lower costs compared to primary health clinics (Chang, Brundage, & Chokshi, 2015). Also, as patients can go to a UCC without an appointment (unlike a primary health clinic), they will find the UCC more accessible for treating minor illnesses (Yakobi, 2017). These advantages over its competitors will help WMC capture a significant market share in the urgent care segment.
The potential risks associated with the setting up of a UCC were identified. It was observed during the competitor analysis that a retail health clinic inside a Walmart store situated near WMC could pose a threat to the UCC. Retail health clinics are walk-in clinics located inside grocery stores or supermarkets. They mainly provide convenient care to retail store customers suffering from minor illnesses. Like UCCs, many retail health clinics offer after-hours care and easy accessibility without an appointment; at the same time, the health care cost at these clinics is less than it is at UCCs (Chang et al., 2015). Therefore, the presence of the retail health clinic puts the financial security of the UCC at risk as it might appear more attractive to patients in need of urgent care.
A UCC is equipped to handle a wider number of ailments than a retail health clinic (Chang et al., 2015). Being affiliated with WMC, the UCC can provide its patients access to more facilities such as scans and tests that are not provided by retail health clinics and other UCCs. These factors set the UCC at WMC apart from its competitors and can be used to promote
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