“The urgent care business is thriving, with more centers popping up across many parts of Georgia and the nation.
Their target clientele is a large segment of the population — people who want easy access and walk-in services and may lack a primary care doctor. And the owners of urgent care centers see their market growing as more patients have health insurance, at least partly due to the Affordable Care Act.
Large hospital systems are increasingly adopting this same kind of retail-oriented strategy, with many getting into the urgent care business.
That’s much of the backstory why the Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare system has aligned with WellStreet and its seven urgent care centers in metro Atlanta.
The two organizations announced a partnership this month that will rename the urgent care centers Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet. No money was exchanged in the
agreement.
WellStreet and its patients and physicians will get access to Piedmont’s “clinically integrated health system,” said Dr. Lee Resnick, chief medical officer for WellStreet
And Piedmont takes another step to expand its health care system and strengthen its primary care services.
Besides its five hospitals, the Piedmont system gains access to WellStreet’s urgent care centers from the Atlanta neighborhoods of Virginia-Highland and Buckhead to the northern suburbs of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek/Alpharetta and Austell. That network adds to the two urgent care centers Piedmont already runs in Fayette and Henry counties, south of Atlanta.
About 10,000 urgent care centers operate in the U.S., offering cheaper alternatives to hospital emergency rooms. Such centers have more convenient hours than regular doctors’ offices, generally being open on weekends.”
See full Georgia Health News article here:
http://www.georgiahealthnews.com/2014/05/latest-partnership-reflects-trend-urgent-care/
