How did knowledge of the characteristics of the best prospects contribute to an effective marketing campaign? During the 1980s, some enterprising healthcare professionals believed there was a need for an alternative to the traditional physician’s office.

While they conceded that many patients desired a long-term relationship with a physician and were willing to accept the deficiencies of the typical physician practice to obtain it, they also thought there was a significant portion of the population that did not have an established physician relationship but occasionally required some type of care. Some of these consumers were new to the community and had not found a regular physician, and others had become disillusioned with their physician but had not found a replacement. Still others were dissatisfied with the conditions under which care had to be obtained—long waits for an appointment, hours spent in the waiting room, only five minutes spent with the doctor, and then, a big bill.

Out of this situation, the urgent care center was born. The concept involved the development of conveniently located (i.e., in the community) walk-in clinics staffed by the same quality of physician one would encounter in a typical doctor’s office. The clinic would offer only basic services and refer patients with anything more than a minor problem to another facility. Although the urgent care centers would accept insurance, they charged a low fee to attract patients without insurance and even those with insurance who were turned off by the challenges involved in seeing a “regular” physician. The centers would not maintain medical records beyond the basics, assuming most visits were onetime events. They would have the advantage of quick service with none of the hassle associated with a typical physician’s office.