Emergency service: a strategy for hospital-sponsored ambulatory care satellites.
This analysis of the overall market position of free-standing emergency care was based on a telephone survey of 300 randomly chosen households in a southeastern metropolitan area. Results show that consumer preferences for cost and convenience create a strong market for free-standing emergency facilities. Emergicare centers are in an ideal situation to capture the market for acute and minor emergency care. To be worthwhile, the emergency room in a more comprehensive ambulatory care facility should serve as a feeder of new patients and be profitable in its own right. However, free-standing emergency facilities must not only attract patients through convenience and price, but they must also maintain patients through assuring quality care and satisfaction.
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006761:Hospitals; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D008824:Michigan; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D014481:United States