Congrats Dr. Talbott!

Congratulations!!! are in order for our client, Dr. Gaines Talbott, longtime owner of First Med Urgent Care.  In early May, Dr. Talbott officially merged his successful Charlottesville practice with West Virginia-based MedExpress Urgent Care.  Best of Luck!

MedExpress, a national leader in affordable walk-in care, is part of Optum, a division of United Healthcare.  MT Consulting was instrumental in MedExpress' initial path to expansion over 10 years ago.  As our client, MT assisted the founders of MedExpress secure an investment from private equity firm, Excellere Partners.

Optum's Reach Increases

Optum, a division of UnitedHealthcare, is set to expand its patient care options across the U.S. with the recently announced agreement to acquire DaVita Medical Group.  Optum's medical care delivery system currently includes a network of surgical centers, urgent care centers and a HouseCall program.  DaVita Medical Group will add 300 medical clinics and 6 surgical centers concentrated in Florida, California, Colorado, Washington, Nevada and New Mexico to the system.

DaVita is best-known for its nationwide network of 2,470 outpatient dialysis centers.  This unit is not part of the UnitedHealth/Optum $4.9 billion deal which is subject to regulatory approvals.  >>Read more

Related:
UnitedHealth Increases Footprint

UnitedHealth Increases Footprint

UnitedHealth is expanding its healthcare provider footprint.  This week the healthcare giant announced that Optum, it's health services arm, will acquire Surgical Care Affiliates.  The new Optum company is a chain of outpatient surgery centers - 205 facilities across 30 states.  >>Read more

The addition continues a buying spree over the last few years which has included doctors groups, clinics and a leading urgent care provider, MedExpress.

Coincidentally, MT Consulting brokered MedExpress' first deal - when the provider had only 7 centers.  The deal set the wheels in motion...MedExpress has since substantially increased its presence in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Midwest.  According to UnitedHealth, the MedExpress expansion will continue in 2017.

Urgent Care Still on Fire

In a recent article, the NY Times restated a fact that we've know for awhile.  The urgent care healthcare segment continues to be Hot.  As noted by the author, Julie Creswell, "The business model is simple:  Treat many patients as quickly as possible."  From this simple approach, the industry has grown to an estimated $14.5 billion business and garnered the attention of commercial insurance companies, regional health systems, local hospitals.  And now..private equity firms.  In fact, PE investors are driving the growth these days.  Of course, expensive ER visits, limited office hours, the more insureds/less doctors conundrum may have contributed to the UC interest and clinic increase.  (~9000 US clinics)

Certainly, well-run platforms are appealing - wonder how many will evolve into a McDonald's type brand?  What do you think?

>>More food for thought:  Race Is On to Profit From Rise of Urgent Care

Funding Continues for Walk-in Clinics

Private equity firms continue funding of healthcare’s urgent care sector.  This ongoing interest is not surprising given 20% clinic growth in the last 4 years*.  MedExpress, an industry leader, currently with over 100 locations, was one of the first to benefit from PE interest when it had only 6 offices.  More recently, sector funding has come from LLR Partners for Physicians Immediate Care and FFL Partners for WellStreet.

Health insurers and hospital systems also recognize the value of urgent care ownership.  However, their acquisition motivation may be slightly different vis a vis private equity firms.  Humana, owner of 330-clinic Concentra, and other insurers appreciate the cost containment potential with urgent care clinics (e.g.:  Per visit: 30-40% less than doctor visit; 80% less than ER).  Hospitals now own 27% of urgent care centers.  While not expected to be a large revenue stream, hospital-owned clinics offer a great source of patient referrals.  >>Read more

*Urgent Care Association of America

Cloud-based Service Provider Lands at MedExpress

MedExpress Urgent Care recently selected Athenahealth for its cloud-based medical billing capabilities and live and automated patient communications service. 

Athenahealth's cloud technology offers a scalable platform...one that will grow with MedExpress’ expansion - enhancing the urgent care provider’s operational productivity as well as their patient’s experience.  According to Kevin Ruffe, MedExpress CIO "By streamlining processes based on the needs of our patients, we are able to facilitate an efficient information flow that allows our health care professionals to focus on each and every patient who walks through our doors."  >>Read more