Scenario: A city-based community hospital is looking at adding an urgent care facility in a rural area. Urgent care is the delivery of ambulatory care in a facility dedicated to the delivery of unscheduled, walk-in care outside of a hospital emergency department. Development of the Rural Urgent Care (RUC) facility will facilitate access to care providers through extended service hours within closer geographic proximity to patients, families, and caregivers. RUC will act to alleviate demand for emergency department services by shifting lower acute patients to a less resource-intensive environment. This project is in response to the shift from volume- to value-based health care. Payers and purchasers are interested in improving economic efficiency by shifting utilization from emergency department to lower cost settings, such as RUC. Several competing hospitals have hired emergency department physicians, as part of their integration strategy to participate in accountable care organizations (ACO) contracts. The hospital needs to respond to the competitive situation by making a sound investment in the RUC facility that addresses both financial and economic situations. The facility will be staffed with physicians and will include a radiology suite, laboratory suite, and other health-related ventures to help the hospital grow. You must help the board develop a business plan for this urgent care unit. To prepare for this assignment: Examine the provided scenario. Refer to the document “Background and Financial Data for Investment in the Rural Urgent Care Center”. Analyze the background and financial data for the RUC facility. The Assignment: Create a business plan (8–10 pages) that includes the following: Executive summary Market analysis, including: o Macro- and microeconomic implications of market competition o ACO payment incentives to the organization o How the RUC impacts economic efficiency Financial analysis, including: o Capital requirements o Reimbursement model o Cost per patient visit o Pro forma, including: § Patient revenue § Operating expense § Income from operations § Total expense § Net cash flow Note: You must support your business plan with financial The 8- to 10-page paper requirement, submitted as a Word document, does not include the title, Excel spreadsheet, or reference pages. Your Assignment must be written in standard edited English. Be sure to support your work with specific citations.
