The Westminster-based healthcare provider, which started running drive-thru test sites for the County of Orange last year, has plans to scale with testing kiosks, concierge services and telehealth offerings this year.
Vince Tien, co-founder of 360 Clinic and a former senior vice president and co-founder of Westminster home health provider 24/7 Care At Home, attributed the company’s successful growth to its unique testing model.
“When the pandemic hit, one of our friends, Dr. Linh Nguyen, started providing COVID-19 testing in his practice. He showed us the model [we use] and how sustainable it could be with providers and clinicians on site,” Tien said.
360 Clinic is now carrying the model to its kiosks and fast-growing fleet of testing vans, with plans to more than double its current base of 250 employees to about 600 in the next two months.
The Beginning
360 Clinic started with small community clinics before nabbing a year-long contract with the county in July, in which it deployed two super sites at the Anaheim Convention Center and OC Fairgrounds.
At the drive-thru sites, 360 Clinic staff check identification and insurance information, before providing patients with a nasal swab test. Clinicians are also available to answer questions and provide medical assistance.
In the earlier days of the pandemic, Tien recalled how important it was to have a clinician present to check vital signs, and in fact sent some patients in poor condition straight to the hospital.
Patients receive test results in about 24 to 48 hours, as well as follow-up guidance via 360 Clinic’s physician network, which provides a number of post-COVID care options and mental health services.
Testing volumes have normalized at the super sites, down from 4,000 to about 2,000 per day due to a combination of people receiving vaccines and a lack of holiday gatherings, Tien added.
Expansion of Services
Residents started asking for a walk-up testing option as 360 Clinic’s drive-thru sites got underway, and 360 Clinic responded by opening kiosks at the end of last year.
The company has since opened 16 kiosks spanning from sites at Laguna Woods City Hall to Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
“Our goal is to provide access points for at least one or two kiosks in every city in OC to meet demand,” Tien said.
The next evolution of 360 Clinic’s business was a matter of “getting our kiosks on wheels, so that we could go into neighborhoods where it’s hard for people to get testing,” Tien said, noting the company is currently outfitting about 10 vans to travel up to San Bernardino.
The fleet is also part of a new concierge program for businesses, in which the company provides rapid COVID-19 antigen testing to employers, with results ready in as little as 15 minutes.
Vaccine distribution could be next for 360 Clinic, Tien added.
It is “absolutely possible” to offer vaccines via a drive-thru format, and the company expects to have access to vaccines for the public once the county opens tier 3 of its distribution plan or as soon as March, he said. n
