WSJ: Hospitals Continue to ‘Follow the Patient’ to Urgent Care and Other Settings

As we’ve reported here, the evolving habits of patients who seek immediate, cost-efficient, quality care is forcing hospitals and health systems to reconsider their own approaches to patient engagement. Such is reconfirmed in a Wall Street Journal article that observes “as patients increasingly seek cheaper and more convenient care, some of the largest U.S. hospital operators are investing in surgery centers, emergency rooms, and urgent care clinics.” The article cites Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dignity Health, and HCA Healthcare, Inc. as just a few that “are investing heavily in surgery centers, emergency rooms, and urgent care clinics located outside hospitals.” It’s been a long time coming, as demand for hospital-based care has been slowing since the beginning of the most recent U.S. recession, as people sought any way to pay less for care without sacrificing quality—not coincidentally, paralleling the continued growth of the urgent care industry.