Achieving success for freestanding ambulatory care centers. Start-up and initial operation

This is the last in a series of three articles focusing on achieving success for freestanding ambulatory care centers. This article discusses start-up and initial operation of freestanding centers. The first article, published in the fall 1998 issue of Ambulatory Outreach, provided a framework for making the decision to invest in a freestanding ambulatory care center. The second article, published in the winter 1998 issue, discussed detailed planning for a center. The combined articles offer proven approaches for strategic decision-making, detailed planning and implementation of ambulatory care centers.