Mr. Scott, an attorney and healthcare entrepreneur who founded for-profit hospital giant Columbia Hospital Corp. (now HCA), saw a growing Florida market of patients who didn’t require emergency room care but lacked access to primary care physicians.
So in 2001, he created Solantic Corp., a privately-held chain of 24 urgent care centers staffed by physicians who see patients without appointments or long waits and provide urgent care, occupational medicine, immunizations and other medical services for a posted fee.
Solantic urgent care centers post a menu of prices, just like Starbucks.
They offer guarantees: If patients aren’t well three days after being treated, Solantic will treat them for free. And that goes for flu shots as well. If patients are given flu shots at Solantic and later believe they’ve contracted the flu, they receive a free exam, flu test and treatment recommendation.
Mr. Scott says in his 20 years in healthcare he’s been driven by patient satisfaction, efficiency, transparency and quality of care.
"The biggest problem is healthcare costs too much," he says. "Both at Columbia and at Solantic we’ve brought costs down. We deliver healthcare in an environment where patients like it. Somebody greets you when you walk in. There is a menu of prices posted prominently. We tell you how much things cost and what your insurance will cover and what your co-payment will be," he explains. "Patient satisfaction is also important. And so is getting a good result. That’s why we back it up with the guarantee."
Mr. Scott says he hopes to expand by year’s end to 30 sites. "Our goal is to go nationwide and build a brand outward from where we are," he says.
Mr. Scott’s business model employs more than 80 physicians, 50 full-time and another 30 part-time. "We try to pick areas that are not well served by urgent care, which typically costs less than one tenth the cost of emergency care. We charge $89 to see a doctor. Eighty percent of our business is walk-ins who have insurance. We take Medicare, but it doesn’t comprise a big portion of our revenues. People who come to us don’t want to go to ER and wait for hours. Or they can’t get into see their primary care provider or don’t have one."
Solantic’s centers are open 100 hours a week making them more accessible to customers at odd hours suffering minor cuts, scrapes, injuries and illnesses that don’t quite qualify as emergencies, but still require medical attention.
He says there are at least two full-time physicians at each center, some board certified in family practice and others in occupational medicine. Injured workers comprise a large portion of his clientele. "Between 60 percent and 70 percent of ER patients could come to us," Mr. Scott says.
Mr. Scott says he has no immediate plans to take Solantic public. "That makes sense if you need capital, but right now access isn’t a problem for us," he says. "But it’s nice to offer employees stock options."
Contact Mark Taylor at mark@beckersasc.com.
