Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Make Patients Feel Welcome, and They May Make You Successful

If there’s truth to the cliché that “first impressions are everything,” then as a retail and service business, urgent care should put its best foot forward whenever patients enter the center, providing a greeting not dissimilar to what shoppers expect when entering a retail store. In recent weeks I’ve visited three urgent care centers and upon crossing the entry threshold, experienced three completely different “welcomes.” In the first center, I was greeted by multiple signs pointing …

Open for Business?

“Appearances matter” is a commonly heard phrase, but sometimes appearances can either encourage new patients to come in or literally stop patients at the door. It’s not enough that you’re open 12 hours per day. The equally important question is, does your urgent care center look open? I’ve frequently seen urgent care centers which—during operating hours—have their exterior signage turned off, no “open” sign displayed, and their window blinds closed, giving the appearance of being …

Window Decals Can Help Tell Your Story and Sell Your Services

If permitted in your municipality, window decals can enhance the appearance of your center, make your brand visible at eye-level to pedestrians on a city street (important if your signage is near the top of your building), and educate the community as to your various services. For example, there’s an OPTUM Urgent Care location in Plano, TX in the out-lot of a high-traffic SuperTarget store that uses its window decals to market a wide array …

Medical Marijuana: An Urgent Care Issue?

URGENT MESSAGE: Public attitudes on the use of marijuana have undergone a sea change over the last two decades, with laws regarding the use of marijuana for medical purposes and in limited cases the recreational use of the drug becoming more liberal. Legalized cannibis presents unique challenges that could impact urgent care and occupational medicine providers when it comes to delivery of patient care and human resources considerations. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice …

Looking for a Few Good People? Host a Job Fair

URGENT MESSAGE: Job fairs can be an efficient and cost-effective method of finding suitable employees to fill open positions in urgent care centers. With diligent planning, a job fair can save valuable time by speeding up the interview process and can bring talented and qualified applicants right to your door. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and Practice Management Editor of JUCM — The Journal of …

Is America’s Uninsured Problem Being Replaced by America’s Underinsured Problem?

URGENT MESSAGE: Although the Affordable Care Act has made some progress in reducing the number of Americans without any health insurance, many of the newly insured are still unable to afford routine healthcare due to plan designs that include high deductibles, copays and coinsurance. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association of America, …

Open-Book Management: Using Transparency and Gamification to Engage and Empower Frontline Staff

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity Urgent care requires dedicated, engaged, and focused frontline staff members to deliver the types of patient experiences that spur repeat visits and positive word of mouth. Yet a Gallup poll conducted in 2014 showed that a paltry 32% of U.S. workers are truly engaged in their jobs.1 That means that more than two-thirds of America’s workforce is simply going through the motions—which engagement experts have clearly demonstrated has a …

Portland’s Zoom+: An Integrated Health System Built on Urgent Care

URGENT MESSAGE: Zoom+, which operates 28 walk-in clinics in the Pacific Northwest, has long been a technological innovator, launching web registration, scheduling, and telemedicine in its markets. In the past year, ZoomCare has evolved further to create Zoom+, integrating urgent care with insurance, primary care, wellness, specialists, and ancillary services. As Zoom+ refocuses the future of urgent care around the needs of its community, there is much that other urgent care operators can learn in …

Dealing with Angry Urgent Care Patients

URGENT MESSAGE: American consumers have been conditioned to expect high levels of customer service in exchange for their hard-earned money, so when urgent care fails to deliver on patient expectations, the result can be devastating to a center’s reputation. Fortunately, negative experiences can be turned around by practical strategies for dealing with angry patients. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the Board …

Real Estate Trends: Repurposing Bank Branches as Urgent Care Centers

URGENT MESSAGE: As urgent care developers seek prime real estate for their medical centers, bank branches that have been vacated due to mergers may provide a high-traffic, high-visibility solution, although there are practical challenges with converting a former bank branch to an urgent care center. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association of America, …