Urgent Care Reinvented: Eliminating Handoffs with Clinical Concierge and Lean Design

In this episode of The American Journal of Healthcare Strategy podcast, we sit down with Brandon J. Robertson, Founder and CEO of UCP Merchant Medicine and in Televisit Solutions, to explore how clinical concierge models and lean design principles are transforming urgent care delivery at scale.

Brandon shares how his team applied operational science—including queuing theory, the Theory of Constraints, and AI-driven clinical decision tools—to eliminate handoffs, slash visit times, and achieve an average Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 94. You’ll learn why traditional urgent care models fail, how AI-enhanced standing orders drive diagnostic consistency, and what it takes to create financially sustainable urgent care operations—even in low-reimbursement environments.

We also cover the three-phase ROI model Brandon uses to help health systems justify investment in urgent care, including short-term profitability, mid-term referral capture, and long-term lifetime value. Whether you're a healthcare executive, strategist, or operations leader, this conversation is a masterclass in urgent care innovation and system-wide impact.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
01:17 Brandon's Career Journey
02:58 Founding UCP Merchant Medicine
03:14 Theory of Constraints in Healthcare
04:20 Reducing Urgent Care Door-to-Door Time
05:05 Queuing Theory and Process Optimization
08:03 Clinical Concierge Model
16:30 AI in Urgent Care
18:53 Economic Impact and Scalability
21:21 Long-term Value of Urgent Care
28:46 Customized Models and Data Science
34:46 Conclusion and Final Thoughts