Dive Brief:
- Partners HealthCare, the largest health system in Massachusetts, is looking to open up to a dozen urgent care clinics in the coming three years, with the first coming in late August and two more in the fall.
- The system will be entering an urgent care market that is skyrocketing in the state and is already occupied by competitors including Steward Health Care System, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health.
- Partners will brand the clinics as Partners Urgent Care, and is partnering on the venture with MedSpring Urgent Care, a subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care.
Dive Insight:
Although Partners is following behind numerous competitors, it plans to outstrip most of them on number of clinic locations, and it can count on its size and reputation to give it advantage.
The system owns 10 hospitals, which include Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s, and it considers the clinics to be extensions of ther brand that increase availability and convenience.
Boston healthcare lawyer Ellen Janos of Mintz Levin tells The Boston Globe that opening urgent care centers is a good business strategy. “It’s a way to provide convenient care to existing patients and keep them in the system, as well as attracting new patients,” she says.