Orthopedic Urgent Care Franchise Goes the Extra Mile to Enhance Patients’ Health Care Journey
// By Lisa D. Ellis //
If you or a family member broke an ankle or dislocated a shoulder, what if you could just use an app on your smartphone to schedule a visit at a nearby orthopedic urgent care center and, at the same time, also arrange for an Uber driver to transport you? This can take some of the stress out of the equation and enable you to get medical care in the most efficient and convenient way.
Customizing Care for Patient Needs
That’s the premise of a new option offered through OrthoNOW®, an orthopedic urgent care franchise with a flagship center in Doral, Florida, and with additional locations throughout Florida and Georgia.
The concept behind OrthoNOW is simple: offer a walk-in facility where patients can be seen by an orthopedic specialist immediately. This gives people who experience orthopedic injuries or chronic orthopedic pain an alternative to the emergency department, where they are likely to endure a long wait only to be referred to a specialist anyway, according to Dr. Alejandro Badia, co-founder and chief medical officer.
Dr. Alejandro Badia, co-founder and chief medical officer of OrthoNOW
The types of injuries OrthoNOW urgent care centers can treat include broken bones, sprains, and cuts. The facilities also offer diagnostic equipment including digital X-ray, and some even have MRI. In addition, some of the facilities have close affiliation and/or proximity to an ambulatory surgery center, so it’s easy for patients to get a proper diagnosis and treatment all in one visit. This makes it an appropriate setting for a range of sports and workers’ compensation injuries, among other things.
While this one-stop-shop approach to addressing emergency orthopedic needs is unique, Badia says his company didn’t stop there.