Inside AdviNOW Medical’s Initial Customer Strategy: Why They Targeted Urgent Care First
Sometimes the most promising market isn’t the biggest or most profitable – it’s the one with the most acute pain.
In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, AdviNOW Medical founder James Bates revealed how his company’s strategic focus on urgent care centers unlocked a path into the broader healthcare market. The decision wasn’t based on market size, but on finding the perfect alignment of need and readiness for innovation.
Finding the Pain Point
The strategy emerged from James’ initial analysis of medical practices. “I was shocked to see that they don’t really make money. I mean, most people think, oh, doctors, everything associated with medicine, a third of our economy, that must be everyone’s rich. But the medical practice businesses, they don’t make money. We’re talking low, single digit EBITDA.”
This profitability crisis was particularly acute in urgent care centers. “Right now, urgent care and primary care are by far the quickest to adopt. They suffer the most with the overhead burden and the low profitability,” James explains.
Understanding the Market Structure
Through his analysis, James discovered how urgent care centers fit into the broader healthcare ecosystem. “If you get a large health system, and we’ll use Mayo Clinic as an example, they have a primary care organization, and it’s really not there for profit. It’s there so that when somebody has an issue, they can go see a Mayo specialist, and it’s like a funnel into the hospital system.”
This role as a “loss leader” created unique pressures on urgent care centers. “They’re always understaffed because it’s a lost leader. They’re the last to actually get doctors, and a lot of doctors aren’t even going into that space today.”
The Perfect Beachhead Market
These challenges made urgent care centers the ideal initial market for several reasons:
- Acute Pain Point: Their low profitability created a strong motivation to adopt cost-saving technology.
- Decision-Making Autonomy: Unlike hospital departments, urgent care centers often had more flexibility in adopting new solutions.
- Simpler Use Cases: Urgent care visits typically involve more straightforward diagnoses, making them ideal for initial AI implementation.
- Quick Feedback Cycles: High patient volume meant faster validation of the technology.
Building Credibility for Expansion
Success in urgent care provided a foundation for expansion into larger health systems. As James notes, “With AdviNOW we basically make it so it’s not a lost leader, and they’re always understaffed because it’s a lost leader. They become more efficient to not only make it profitable, but allow physicians to not be burned out and give better outcomes to patients themselves. So everybody wins.”
This “everybody wins” approach was crucial for gaining acceptance in a traditionally conservative industry. Instead of positioning themselves as disruptors, AdviNOW became enablers of better healthcare delivery.
Looking Beyond the Beachhead
The urgent care strategy was always part of a larger vision. “AdviNOW inevitably becomes a Google of healthcare,” James predicts. But starting with urgent care provided the perfect testing ground for their technology and approach.
For B2B tech founders, particularly those entering regulated industries, AdviNOW’s market entry strategy offers valuable lessons. Sometimes the best path to market dominance isn’t through the largest or most prestigious customers – it’s through those who feel the pain most acutely and are most motivated to try new solutions.
The key is finding where your solution’s value proposition aligns perfectly with market need, even if that market initially seems small. As James puts it, “I’m looking forward to a world where healthcare is not a mystery. Healthcare is solved.” Sometimes solving the biggest problems starts with helping those who need it most.