This concept can be applied to the recent emergence of urgent care centers, which seems to be popping up in existing strip shopping malls everywhere you look. It is one of the most rapid developments in healthcare due to the public wanting immediate access to healthcare. McDonaldization is a major reason for the overnight growth. Let’s apply the fast food concept to urgent care centers.

1. The centers are being placed in highly visible and high-trafficked areas just as McDonald’s restaurants are located.
2. The centers are less expensive than emergency rooms and many offer menu-board pricing for self-pay patients. This is similar to going to a McDonald’s as the prices are cheaper and there is a menu with prices to select your food options.
3. The centers eliminate appointments, reduce wait times, and many are open late and on weekends or 24 hours a day. Less than one-third of primary care physicians have after-hours coverage, so these centers fill a void. McDonald’s is one of the most efficient fast food restaurants and you know when you walk in that your food will be delivered hot and quickly. It is open 24 hours so you can always curb your appetite.

Urgent care centers represent the concept of rationalization and demonstrate efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control. The control concept is evident in the online check-in system. It allows patients to choose a convenient time to be seen and wait at home or the office instead of in the waiting room. While these centers are convenient for minor illnesses, they can be suboptimal in some ways. Families have less of a relationship with the primary care physician and less continuity of care. Most urgent care centers don’t offer preventive care such as immunizations, healthy lifestyle counseling, or, in the case of children, monitoring their growth development. So, just like fast food is not as nutritious as well balanced healthy meals, urgent care centers are not the same healthcare as offered by primary care physicians.

It’s obvious these centers have been McDonaldized, which leads to the question, “How soon will they reach over 99 billion served?”