By Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, President, Urgent Care Consultants
It’s tempting to assume artificial intelligence makes a consultant optional. It doesn’t. Access to information isn’t the same as judgment. After more than 20 years developing, operating, and growing urgent care centers, completing graduate-level education in AI—and helping scale the Urgent Care Association—I can say plainly: expertise today isn’t replaced by AI; it’s defined by how effectively a human expert uses it.
Wharton professor Ethan Mollick calls this the “human in the loop.” As a physician, think of it this way: AI is like a powerful new MRI. It can generate a remarkably detailed image, but you still need a specialist to interpret the nuances, make the diagnosis, and design the treatment plan. In building an urgent care, we are that specialist for your business.
Location is strategy, not a search query.
Urgent care is a volume business; volume is won or lost at site selection. We leverage AI-based tools to rapidly process vast demographic and traffic data, but it’s our proprietary performance models—built on years of real-world urgent care results—that identify true revenue potential. We start top-down—market first, trade area second. Then, a value-engineered design-build approach aligns your broker, architect, and GC so the center flows, operates efficiently, and presents well for patients and providers. By contrast, starting with an AI-generated list of "available properties" is how centers end up chasing demand rather than owning it.
A bank-ready pro forma, not a downloaded template.
Any lender—especially for an SBA loan—expects third-party validation and defensible assumptions. While an AI can generate a template, it can’t defend its assumptions to a skeptical underwriter. Our process is an iterative exercise that pressure-tests visit volumes, payer mix, staffing, marketing ramp, and capital needs. Our relationships with lenders, built on a track record of successful launches, shorten underwriting and increase confidence. If it doesn’t work on paper, it won’t work in reality.
Data access you can’t prompt into existence.
We benchmark our clients’ models using expensive syndicated datasets and proprietary operational data that aren’t publicly available. This means we’re not guessing at reimbursement rates, patient throughput, or seasonal curves; we’re comparing your plan against thousands of real-world operators. We run predictive scenarios based on observed performance, stress-testing your plan with discipline rather than AI-fueled optimism.
| Download our e-book on Top 25 Urgent Care Start-up Mistakes: https://urgentcareconsultants.com/articles/top-25-urgent-care-startup-mistakes/ |
Execution is 1,500 decisions made in order.
An AI can’t manage your general contractor or track your credentialing packets in real-time. Our 1,500-item work plan prevents the "small" omissions that cause big delays while rent and salaries accrue. Licensure, vendor lead times, IT cutovers, signage approvals, CLIA certification—each looks minor in isolation. Get the sequence wrong and you can lose weeks and tens of thousands of dollars.
Payer contracting determines Day-1 revenue.
Knowing which networks are closed, what rates are attainable, and how to synchronize credentialing with your opening date is the difference between seeing insured patients on Day 1 versus turning them away—or worse, locking in subpar rates that handicap you for years. We integrate these complex timelines so the lights come on with payers in place.
How I use AI—strategically.
I personally leverage AI to synthesize analysis, challenge our assumptions, and stress-test operating models. But that’s where its role ends. AI accelerates the what; my experience provides the why and the how. My team and I set the guardrails; your clinical vision shapes the final model. The highest-performing pathway is Alan + AI + you.
The Allure—and Hidden Risks—of DIY.
Today’s tools make a DIY launch look deceptively straightforward. But the devil is hiding in the blind spots you don’t know to look for. You can’t know what you don’t know. Use AI, absolutely. Just don’t mistake its output for a successful outcome. Get the location right. Build a bank-ready plan. Stand on real benchmarks. Execute with a proven playbook. And open your doors with contracts that pay.
If you’re exploring an urgent care start-up—or want a second opinion on your plan—let’s talk.
Schedule a discovery call today: https://urgentcareconsultants.com/contact/