Most businesses and companies set up market strategies and campaigns to appeal to and attract affluent customers, or at least those with some kind of disposable income. It’s a theory that makes a lot of sense for obvious reasons. However, a recent plan unveiled by a New York City-area urgent care center is operating in stark contrast to this theory.
Cure Urgent Care will open two walk-in facilities in Brooklyn specifically targeting lower-income families, according to the NYC-area news source CrainsNewYork.com. It’s something New York State officials have been wanting to do as well. After some apprehension about opening urgent care facilities a few years the results have been an overwhelming success.
“It was a new model. There was some concern about the quality, concern about whether people would use this in a way that avoided primary care physicians,” said Seth Diamond, chief operating officer at MetroPlus Health Plan, another urgent care provider in the boroughs. “Now we have more confidence that the model works.”
Cure Urgent Care currently has three locations in Manhattan and Long Island, but their chief executive, Elan Katz, has said he wants the next locations to target low-income areas that are generally considered medically underserved. A true businessman, Katz understands the importance of also being accessible and available to the wealthier population, who more likely to have some kind of commercial insurance, which his industry thrives off of.
Katz believes having urgent care centers available in these underserved areas can be a huge benefit to people already struggling to get by. The majority of them tend to be open on nights and weekends and in most cases are a more cost-effective alternative to going to the hospital or emergency room. In fact, on average an emergency room trip will cost about $1,500 while a visit to an urgent care center averages under $150.
One of the biggest changes making the move viable is the fact that Katz’s company has formed more relationships with insurers that enroll Medicaid beneficiaries. Medicaid patients used to be persuaded to see their primary care physicians in almost every situation, but recently more and more have started to come around to this new trend of healthcare and are allowing their Medicaid customers to use urgent care centers.Most businesses and companies set up market strategies and campaigns to appeal to and attract affluent customers, or at least those with some kind of disposable income. It’s a theory that makes a lot of sense for obvious reasons. However, a recent plan unveiled by a New York City-area urgent care center is operating in stark contrast to this theory.
Cure Urgent Care will open two walk-in facilities in Brooklyn specifically targeting lower-income families, according to the NYC-area news source CrainsNewYork.com. It’s something New York State officials have been wanting to do as well. After some apprehension about opening urgent care facilities a few years the results have been an overwhelming success.
“It was a new model. There was some concern about the quality, concern about whether people would use this in a way that avoided primary care physicians,” said Seth Diamond, chief operating officer at MetroPlus Health Plan, another urgent care provider in the boroughs. “Now we have more confidence that the model works.”
Cure Urgent Care currently has three locations in Manhattan and Long Island, but their chief executive, Elan Katz, has said he wants the next locations to target low-income areas that are generally considered medically underserved. A true businessman, Katz understands the importance of also being accessible and available to the wealthier population, who more likely to have some kind of commercial insurance, which his industry thrives off of.
Katz believes having urgent care centers available in these underserved areas can be a huge benefit to people already struggling to get by. The majority of them tend to be open on nights and weekends and in most cases are a more cost-effective alternative to going to the hospital or emergency room. In fact, on average an emergency room trip will cost about $1,500 while a visit to an urgent care center averages under $150.
One of the biggest changes making the move viable is the fact that Katz’s company has formed more relationships with insurers that enroll Medicaid beneficiaries. Medicaid patients used to be persuaded to see their primary care physicians in almost every situation, but recently more and more have started to come around to this new trend of healthcare and are allowing their Medicaid customers to use urgent care centers.
Sources: CrainesNewYork.com
CapitalNewYork.com
