Prof. Howard Weiss, who developed the Excel OM and POM software that comes free with our text, shares his insights monthly.
Figure 8.1 in the Location Chapter in your Heizer/Render/Munson textbook explains that two of the factors that affect site location decisions are proximity of services and customer density. Consider doctor visits.
House Calls
At the turn of the 20th century, family doctors would come to a patient’s house to give medical attention. For the patient, visits could not be more proximate than at home. House calls peaked in the 1930s but the life cycle of house calls is essentially at the end today. One reason is that there are fewer family doctors now. Another reason has to do with insurance company reimbursement requirements. There are, however, more visiting nurses, physical therapists and other medical care personnel making house calls.
Urgent Care
In the 1970s, doctors began to open urgent care centers to serve patients who do not have emergency needs. There are over 10,000 urgent care centers in the U.S. The advantages of urgent care centers are
Centers typically do not require an appointment
Centers are open for more hours than doctors’ offices.
In most cases, patients are within a 10-minute drive of a center.
Centers generally post fees and these fees are typically less than the fee at a doctor’s office or emergency room.
Mobile Health Clinics
Also, in the 1970s, health care organizations began using mobile health clinics to serve rural and underrepresented areas that have less patient density. There are over 2,000 mobile clinics in the U.S. each providing an average of 3,500 visits annually.
Medical clinics in retail outlets
Around the turn of the 21 st century, pharmacies, supermarkets and other retail outlets began to place medical clinics in their facilities. These clinics are more plentiful than mobile clinics and create a win-win situation for the patient and the retail outlet. Advantages to the patient are the same as those for urgent care centers. The advantage to the retail outlet is that the clinic increases foot traffic to the store and yields a new revenue stream.
Telehealth visits
The most recent location change has been telehealth. This brings us back full-circle to care in the home as the patient is home and communicates with a doctor via internet or telephone. Telehealth also includes using devices, such as heart monitors, that send information to the doctor’s office. There are. however, still some legal issues surrounding telehealth.
Classroom Discussion Questions:
1. Where was your last visit to a physician?
2. What might some of the legal issues of telehealth be?
Well written and interesting story!