We’ve all been to the emergency room at one time or another, and rarely is it an experience that anyone wants to repeat. Waiting times can be unreasonable, matched by sky-high prices. Sometimes the reason you’re there isn’t even a life-or-death emergency, but the ER is the only available option when your primary care doctor is unavailable. For some in rural or remote areas, going to the emergency room is actually more convenient than trying to find a doctor’s office, and thus becomes the treatment option of choice.

These situations are hardly ideal, and have led to the birth of a new trend: the retail urgent care center. These neighborhood clinics are popping up on corners and in strip shopping centers all around the country, and they work pretty much like any other consumer retail store.

You don’t need an appointment, you just walk in, and you can get treated for anything from allergic reactions to urinary tract infections. The prices are generally a fraction of what you’d pay at an emergency room, the waiting times are minimal, and the quality of equipment and care is similar or even better to what you might find in a hospital.

If this sounds like a McDonald’s business model of health care, that’s not too far off

If this sounds like a McDonald’s business model of health care, that’s not too far off. But of course in the case of urgent care centers, not only are they making money, they’re filling an important need that our current health care system is failing to do. In fact, these clinics aren’t popping up fast enough to keep up with demand – people like the idea of being able to see a doctor on their lunch break, without the hassle, waiting times, and expense of going the traditional route.

Retail Is Dead; Long Live Retail

One interesting side effect of the rise in urgent care clinics is a resurgence in the commercial real estate industry. It’s been a rough few years for shopping centers, with online retailers often crushing brick-and-mortar locations, and forcing stores to close in favor of the relatively low overhead of a website.

Although there are doctors now who can give advice or instructions over Skype, one thing that cannot be done online are medical procedures. If someone has a broken arm or needs stitches, there’s no amount of online consultation that will fix that – the patient needs to see an actual doctor, at an actual facility.

Doctors can give advice or instructions over Skype, but one thing that cannot be done online are medical procedures

This means that things are looking up for commercial real estate agents. Urgent care clinics need lots of space, aren’t fussy about high rents, and have no problem passing a credit check. They want a high-visibility location and they’re not afraid to pay extra for it – in short, an agent’s dream. In addition, they tend to sign longer leases, which is good for the landlords, the tenants, and of course the community that will benefit from having the care center nearby.

Expanding Horizons

Although the United States is currently the fastest-growing market for retail urgent care centers, it’s certainly not the only one. Remote areas in developing regions can also benefit from having branded retail clinics in their communities. In Kenya, for example, Access Ayfa becoming known as the friendly, local clinic, with a reputation for having the best technology, doctors, and medicines at reasonable prices.

In a country where hospitals often have out-of-date medications, are located far from settlements, or employ under-qualified staff, a company like Access Ayfa can use quality and consistency to build a reputation for being a reliable, accessible clinic. This means that people in rural settlements have a health care name they can trust, at prices they can afford.

So is this the future of health care, a retail model where costs are kept low while accessibility grows by leaps and bounds? It’s hard to say at this relatively early stage, but given the sharp growth of urgent care center chains so far, it certainly looks like it’s heading that way.

People in rural settlements have a health care name they can trust, at prices they can afford

It’s also interesting to think about what other kinds of health services could follow a retail business model. At the moment, urgent care services seem to cover a range of situations and ailments, but it’s not difficult to imagine this expanding to things like house calls or even pharmacy delivery services.

The next five years will certainly be telling. Either the urgent care clinic trend will ease its growth over time as it hits the saturation point, or it will become so ubiquitous that it will naturally start branching off into other directions. What’s true In both scenarios, though, is that more people in more areas and more income brackets will have access to quality health care than ever before. For those who are now enjoying reasonably-priced health care that is convenient to their location, that can only be a step in the right direction.