Ira Pasternack and I were on a web meeting call this week with a rep from an online public relations service. He was scrolling through a list of medical practice types for which they have press contacts.
Impressive list….
Anesthesiology….
Cardiology… Dermatology…Emergency Medicine….. Gastroenterology
The list seemed endless. Ira asked him to scroll down to the U area as we held our breath. You guess it….Urology was the only option.
According to a 2005 NYU study reported in the Journal Of Urgent Care Medicine, “Up to 70% of emergency room visits could have been treated in a lower-acuity setting or avoided altogether if early treatment had occurred before the condition progressed into an emergency”
Yet, here we are today and ER’s are at or over capacity and many local urgent care centers are reporting lower average patient per day figures than in 2009.
People are not aware that Urgent Care is a more time and cost efficient option to the ER at the moment that a medical condition arises. We find many people (like the rep mentioned above) don’t even know what Urgent care is.
With our country embattled in health care crises, urgent care should be a part of the solution.
Today’s successful urgent care provider will not just treat people seeking urgent care, but will educate the community as to why urgent care can be a more efficient option to the ER and a healthier option than doing nothing.
In future blog posts, we will discuss some solutions, and other marketing issues facing today’s urgent care provider.
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