The numbers don’t lie: Retail clinics, with their convenient access to healthcare and cost-saving measures, are on the up and up. A new study from Health Affairs shows that between the years of 2007 and 2009, visits to retail clinics increased four-fold — and that number will only go up as more retail clinics become available.

What, exactly, is the appeal of these retail clinics? Convenience, convenience, convenience. Nearly half of the visits to these retail clinics were during time slots when a doctor’s office would be closed, the study noted.

“The rapid growth of retail clinics makes it clear that they are meeting a patient need,” write the authors of the study. “Convenience and after-hours accessibility are possible drivers of this growth.”

“If you tell someone who is a young professional to make a doctor’s appointment three weeks in advance, they will more than likely not do it,” said Luke Peterson, principal of strategy with Health System Advisors, to Becker’s Hospital Review. “They’ll get their flu shots at Walgreen’s. [Appointments are] not relevant to them.”

So what does this mean for hospitals?

The message hospitals need to pick up is that patients are no longer just focused on finding affordable quality care, but they want it to be convenient as well. To ignore this demand from consumers is to miss out on a great opportunity for providers looking to restructure their care model, acquire new patients from different segments, not to mention prevent current patient leakage. Taking note of these simple signals from patients is another valuable resource for healthcare leaders creating strategic plans around population health management and structuring accountable care models. Shaping new and convenient delivery alternatives for care and improving access to care, including preventative, is the solution.

For hospitals focused on population health management and those hoping to boost patient acquisition, prevent patient leakage, and/or for a system looking to restructure its care model, it’ll be essential to take cues on improving care convenience.