Questions for Dr. Stern
About Your Urgent Care Center
19. I have been speaking to a local hospital that does not have a pediatric ER. The employees at the hospital have to go to another ER for their children. When I spoke to the person in charge of this at the hospital they were very interested in contracting with my center. They would rather have their employees bring their children to us than to the expensive ER. Do you have any experience with this? The employees are under an insurance company that we accept. This is new to me, so I do not know what they would want from me. I would like to go into a meeting with them informed, so I wanted to see if you have ever experienced this. I am not sure what kind of contract they would like to have with my center.
This sounds like a very simple (handshake) arrangement. No new contract is generally needed. You can offer to supply brochures and/or posters. The hospital can do some or all of the following:
- Send all employees a letter, recommending your services.
- Include a brochure with the letter (or along with paycheck)
- Display your posters in breakrooms and other prominent areas (including hospital ED waiting room)
- Mention your services at employee meetings.
Since you are contracted with the insurance, what is needed is simply some help in getting the word out to the employees that your clinic offers a more convenient and cost-effective alternative for unscheduled ambulatory pediatric physician visits.
