Patients Consider Convenience Before Quality; It’s a Good Thing Urgent Care Offers Both

By now we’ve all gotten the point that patients want excellent care when they need it, which may not be when their primary care provider or a specialist they’d like to see is available. A new study from NRC Health reveals that the convenience factor is actually a higher priority than quality of care when those patients are deciding where to go. The survey included 223,000 healthcare consumers, 51% of whom said convenience and access to care are the most important factors when deciding where to go for healthcare—in fact, quality finished fifth on the list of top considerations. Insurance coverage was second (46%), followed by “physician/nurse conduct” (44%), brand reputation (40%), and quality of care (35%). Based on those finding, NRC Health recommended the patient experience might best be improved by focusing  on building continuous relationships with patients (as opposed to just episodic care) and ease of access, both in terms of getting to see a provider quickly but also through reduced documentation and rebuilt EHR systems. In other words, borrow from the urgent care playbook when possible.