Marketplace

You may recall reading here just weeks ago that Urgent Care Group (UCG), backed by a pair of investment firms, was buying seven MEDcare Urgent Care locations in South Carolina. UCG now plans to nearly double that number by acquiring Medac Urgent Care, with its six urgent care centers and one occupational medicine location in North Carolina for an undisclosed sum. UCG has partnered with Capital Alignment Partners and Harbert Management on both deals.

When Walgreens takes possession of 14 of McLaren Healthcare’s  pharmacies in Michigan, it will be more than a straightforward acquisition of real estate and assets. Rather, the two parties’ businesses will become intertwined to some degree, with McLaren’s opening up retail clinics inside Walgreens stores, and Walgreens appropriating the health system’s prescription files and site pharmacy inventories. One aim, according to industry analysts, is to reach younger consumers who have already illustrated an interest in …

In the past, we’ve pointed out that the urgent care industry has forged a reputation for being more consumer-friendly than many other settings (which is a key part for its ongoing growth). As other industries evolve, though, urgent care operators might want to pay attention to new strategies that are paying off. A post on FastCompany.com suggests taking a closer look at Lyft and Airbnb—two companies that have built their brand on a foundation of …

Tower Health, which already operates four hospitals in Pennsylvania, is about to become the biggest urgent care player in the Philadelphia area. Plans are for Tower to buy Premier Urgent Care and its 19 locations in four suburban counties in a deal that’s expected to be completed by early November. When it’s done, the new company will be known as Tower Health Urgent Care. In addition to the Pennsylvania locations, Tower will take over Premier’s …

Most children who show up in the pediatric emergency department (PED) have a “regular” pediatrician or primary care physician—but not necessarily access to those physicians at times their parents think it’s absolutely necessary for their child to see a doctor, say the authors of a new article published in Pediatric Emergency Care. This leads to a two-fold problem: First, overcrowding in PEDs and, ultimately, diminished quality of care, according to their data. Second, as is …

The increase in urgent care visits across the U.S. shows no signs of slowing down—and that seems directly correlated to a decline in emergency room visits, according to an article just published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Informed by data from Aetna, the article notes that urgent care visits by commercially insured Americans grew 119% between 2008 and 2015, at the same time ED visits for low-severity conditions shrunk by 36%. Lead author Sabrina Poon, MD …

Truckers are used to a lot of the hardships that come along with driving nearly nonstop every week. Having to choose between doing their jobs and taking care of their health should not be among them. So, VelocityCare/Carilion Clinic is building an urgent care center smack dab in the middle of a truck stop in Raphine, VA, complete with an on-site pharmacy. Seeing as Raphine is located in the scenic—but rural—Shenandoah Valley, the seemingly unusual …

Urgent care has become more prevalent across the country for years, but new data from Massachusetts put a number on its growth there that is likely higher than many would have predicted. The number of urgent care centers grew 800% from 2010 through the end of 2017, according to a report from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. Retail clinics are also multiplying, though at a lower rate. By way of explanation, the Commission said it …

Any thoughts that Humana’s zest for developing clinics in Walgreens drugstores would dampen its enthusiasm for deepening its relationship with Walmart should be put to rest, according to Humana CEO Bruce Broussard. In a call with analysts, Broussard said Humana’s Walgreens partnership will focus on “senior-focused primary care clinics” in Kansas City, MO area pharmacies. He was less specific about the insurer’s plans with Walmart, though it was clear they would focus on a different …