Real Estate Agent · Columbus OH · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
Just got back last night from the Urgent Care Association Conference in Dallas, and wanted to jot some thoughts down, more interpretations of many discussions had at our booth over the 2 days we were there.
- A discussion on data analytics and its use in site selection of Urgent Cares specifically, and how that translates potentially into high revenue dollars for a business was honestly a talk that we thought would be poorly attended. Not because the info was poor or anything but it was just at a weird time on what would normally be a "check in/travel day" for most conference goers. The talk ended up being standing room only, and some of the discussions spilled into the hallway after.
- There appears to not be the sheer volume of operators looking to get into the industry as there was about about a decade ago, however, there seems to be a consistent interest in the med start up world as a way to launch a business career that has a relatively high barrier to entry.
-While there are certainly clinics that are closing around the country, the discussions we had we operators in the 10 unit and under range was overwhelmingly around the topic of growth. It seems that like with real estate and any business it doesn't matter how much money you throw at a "problem" you cant substitute for good operators.
I first heard about this concept about 20 years ago here in the DFW area. First operator I met seemed like a great idea. I think they grew that to about 100 stores and then bankruptcy.
His first location has turned over probably 5 times or more over the 20 years and now converted back to raw strip center space. I think almost every location around me has turned over at least once and several 3-4 times that I can remember.
Seems like there are always docs who thought the last group were idiots and they can run a better mousetrap only to have it turnover again in another 2 years.
In the beginning it seems like they were able to charge what people thought were outrageous amounts and I heard lots and lots of complaints and probably lawsuits. What little fun there is in medicine any more is probably sucked out of you after the first big lawsuit that costs a lot of time and money to defend and then pisses you off if you loose. I don't hear that stuff any more, so not sure if it happens still or not.
The other problem is probably being in business with a bunch of other doctors. That's what all my MD clients complain about. What I dislike is most of them seem to want to get out of medicine ASAP. However that is the cash cow that cash flows the real estate portfolio. So kind of catch 22.