Health systems across the U.S. are looking for ways to improve the overall health of the communities they serve while cutting costs. One emerging trend to reconcile these seemingly competing goals is investing in primary care and express care sites.
These investment could be the key to lowering costs, improving patient satisfaction and reducing hospitalizations or unnecessary emergency department visits, according to an op-ed published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Here are four hospital or health systems investing in primary or urgent care sites as reported by Becker's Hospital Review since Oct. 17.
1. Dignity Health (San Francisco). Dignity Health, in partnership with GoHealth Urgent Care, purchased six urgent care centers operated by Golden State Urgent Care.
2. McLaren Health Care (Grand Blanc, Mich.). McLaren plans to open retail health clinics, urgent care centers and primary care sites in several Walgreens stores throughout Michigan.
3. PeaceHealth (Vancouver, Wash.). The health system has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Zoom+Care, a Portland, Ore.-based on-demand urgent care, primary and specialty care provider.
4. Tower Health (West Reading, Pa.). The health system finalized its acquisition of Douglassville, Pa.-based Premier Urgent Care's 19 urgent care centers Dec. 1.