Episodic illnesses are often referred to as “the cream” of primary care.  But these visits are being lost to urgent care and retail clinics at a growing rate.  In fact, some of your patients may not even call to see if they can get in.  They just head where they know they can walk in without an appointment.

Recent studies show that more than 70 percent of acute care visits to retail clinics consist of sinusitis, pharyngitis, otitis media, otitis externa, conjunctivitis and urinary tract infections.  Could you accommodate patients for these conditions on a walk-in basis?  When we meet with physicians, almost without exception they say yes.  They just need a little help.

Introducing Green Card™ Care.  Let us help you with the workflow and marketing you need either to recapture lost patients or neutralize possible new competition for these episodes of care.

We’ll meet with your practice manager to go through your current workflow and make the right adjustments.  The result: patients with these conditions walk into your office, get a Green Card, and are on their way within 45 minutes.  We’ll teach your providers how these patients can be seen with minimal changes to the way they practice already.  We’ll provide you with a co-branding scheme that puts your name on the Green Card concept, and we’ll help you market these walk-in services to the community.

Contact us for more information on how we can help you be more competitive in your service area: email us at info@merchantmedicine.com or call us at (651) 483-0450.

Market Viability Assessment -- An Indian nation in the Northeast sits in an area where access to quality medical care is limited.  Merchant Medicine is conducting a medical clinic viability assessment.  The project includes estimating the available market for office visits based on the area population, competition and different assumptions around scope of services, including primary care services, urgent care services or retail clinic services.

Channel Entry -- A French weight loss company has seen great success in Europe with a method that has undergone rigorous clinical trials in France.  Merchant Medicine is helping the company test the method in the United States with employers, health insurance companies and hospital systems.  Retail clinics are among the channel options.

Risk Analysis -- A private investor with deep experience in commercial real estate is looking at building an urgent care network on the West Coast.  Merchant Medicine is helping by applying its proprietary site analysis templates to eliminate locations that fall outside of acceptable risk levels.

New Clinic Concept -- A Canadian non-profit is working with Merchant Medicine to develop a novel health concept that targets women dealing with the complexities of menopause.  The concept will involve a unique combination of traditional clinical approaches, weight loss, spa services and retailing.

One-Day Seminar -- A large hospital system in the Great Lakes region is considering getting back into urgent care after exiting the business more than a decade ago.  Merchant Medicine will kick off the process with a one-day executive team meeting that looks at the competitive situation in their market, presents pro-forma P&Ls based on various assumptions and offers alternative strategic options.

Practice Valuation -- Using a lengthy proprietary practice analysis, we provide urgent care clinic operators with a third-party opinion on the value of their practice.

Retail Clinic Practitioner Education -- A large pharmaceutical company whose products are used in the retail clinic channel wants to take advantage of the slow summer months by sending clinical education material to all 1,200+ retail clinics.  Since practitioners have more time during the summer months, Merchant Medicine is facilitating a mailing of the practitioner education material using its database of retail clinics.