By Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, President, Urgent Care Consultants
For urgent care operators, few things are as frustrating and commonplace as the end-of-day dilemma. You advertise that your center is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but in reality, that's not quite the case. Staff arrives at 8:00 a.m. and it takes 15-20 minutes to boot up computers and perform opening checklists before the first patient can be seen. At the other end of the day, to avoid staff incurring overtime, you either have to turn away patients 30 minutes before close or risk employee burnout.
This conundrum pits patient expectations against operational realities, often leaving a trail of lost revenue, frustrated consumers, and exhausted employees. But the problem isn’t just anecdotal—it's a significant operational and financial challenge that many centers are failing to address.
The Data Doesn't Lie: A 40% Turn-Away Rate
As a consultant, I've seen this issue play out in clinics across the country. I was so intrigued by the problem that I conducted my own survey last year. Over several days, I called about 80 urgent cares between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. and was told not to come in a staggering 40% of the time. The reasons varied, from "we're already at capacity" to "the doctor is getting ready to leave." This data doesn’t just represent a minor inconvenience; it quantifies a massive business loss. Every turned-away patient is a lost visit, a missed opportunity for revenue, and a potential negative online review.
In the age of Yelp and Google reviews, this gap between consumer expectation and operational reality is particularly damaging. Consumers interpret "open until 8 p.m." as their final opportunity to receive care. When a clinic shuts its doors early, it directly contradicts this expectation, leading to complaints like, "They turned me away even though I got there at 7:50 p.m.!" The highest-performing, most profitable clinics consistently understand this: they remain open and accept patients until the advertised closing time.
The Common Pitfalls: Why Your "Solutions" Are Failing
Many urgent care operators try to solve this problem with two flawed strategies, both of which have at least two losers:
- The Early Cut-Off: Announcing a "last patient seen at 7:30 p.m." policy may save on labor costs, but it leads to lost revenue and patient dissatisfaction. This practice, while common among competitors, doesn't jive with consumer expectations. A bank doesn't shut down its tellers 15 minutes before its posted closing time—it maintains service right up until the doors are locked. In the same way, turning away a patient feels like a breach of trust.
- The Overtime Trap: Accepting patients until the very last minute without a plan leads to significant labor costs and, more importantly, employee burnout. While it may boost revenue and keep patients happy, this approach is unsustainable. A 2022 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that the primary cause of burnout among healthcare professionals is a feeling of being overworked and unsupported. When staff consistently works late, morale plummets, turnover rates rise, and the quality of care can suffer.
A Better Way Forward: The Win-Win-Win Solution
The key to solving this conundrum is to move beyond these binary, lose-lose scenarios and create a "win-win-win" solution for patients, staff, and the business. This requires a strategic, data-driven approach.
- Analyze Your Data: Before making any changes, you must first understand your patient arrival data. Are those last-hour patients truly the norm or an exaggeration? By analyzing patient flow patterns, you can make informed decisions about scheduling and operations.
- Leverage Technology: Modern online scheduling and queueing systems are a game-changer. By enabling patients to check in virtually, these systems reduce physical wait times and allow you to manage the flow of patients more efficiently. You can set the system to stop accepting new online appointments at a certain time while still allowing for walk-ins, effectively controlling the end-of-day rush. This transparency helps manage patient expectations and reduces the risk of frustrated visitors.
- Optimize Staffing and Operations: A simple solution is to adjust your posted hours to reflect reality. If it takes 30 minutes to close down, post your closing time as 7:30 p.m. to align expectations. Alternatively, consider staggered shifts where some staff members are scheduled to stay 30 minutes later for closing duties. This distributes the workload and prevents burnout for the entire team.
The Takeaway
The urgent care industry is a competitive landscape where every patient visit matters. The end-of-day conundrum isn't just a nuisance; it's a significant operational challenge that can erode your reputation and profitability. At Urgent Care Consultants, we have deep expertise and unparalleled data to help you navigate these issues and find solutions that work for everyone. If you're tired of turning away patients or dealing with staff burnout, we welcome the opportunity to discuss your situation and help you implement a win-win-win solution.
Schedule a discovery call today: https://urgentcareconsultants.com/contact/