Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

The Importance of Having a Solid Job Description for Every Position in the Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: Having concise, complete, and up-to-date job descriptions for all employees in an urgent care center will pay off with better role performance, fewer employment disputes, and hopefully the elimination of the possibility of legal action. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, Experity Between 2012 and 2022, according to the U.S. Economic Census, health-care employment is expected to increase by 2.6% annually—or by 5 million jobs. This rate is approximately five times that projected for …

Drug-Resistant Lice: A Nuisance or an Opportunity for Urgent Care?

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, and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity. URGENT MESSAGE: Twenty-five states are now seeing head lice that are resistant to most common over-the-counter remedies, creating a nuisance for parents and a potential business opportunity for urgent care. Between 6 and 12 million …

Providing Health Insurance for Employees of Urgent Care Centers: An Obligation or Added Benefit?

URGENT MESSAGE: Five years after the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)—also known as the “Affordable Care Act,” or “Obamacare”—many independent urgent care practices are still uncertain of their obligations. In addition to legal mandates, a competitive job market can make a compelling case for offering or subsidizing employee health benefits. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Manager Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the …

After Signing the Lease: Ensuring a Successful Build-Out of Your Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: This exclusive interview with Brent Johnson, Vice President of Midland General Contractors, focuses on dealing with general contractors, time lines, the permit process, build-out costs, and common pitfalls when setting up a new urgent care center. Introduction “Location, location, location” has long been the success mantra of the retail and service industries. Because urgent care centers are a consumer-facing delivery channel for health care, location is also a key success determinant in that field. High traffic counts, good signage visibility, high …

States Grapple with Their Own Regulatory Approach to Urgent Care

URGENT MESSAGE: Urgent care centers are subject to myriad oversight by individual states, accrediting bodies, Medicare/Medicaid, and private insurance companies. Still, the patchwork nature of state regulatory and legislative trends impacting urgent care in 2015 raises questions—and expectations—for what might be coming next year. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association, and Vice President …

What the New Microchip Credit Cards Mean for Urgent Care

URGENT MESSAGE: Effective October 1, 2015, businesses that accept credit and debit cards can be responsible for fraud charges if they do not implement technology that reads the microchip-enabled cards now being issued by banks. Urgent care operators should work with their credit card processors to assure compliance through use of upgraded equipment that is compatible with their practice management systems. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent …

Making a Business Case for Urgent Care Holiday Hours

URGENT MESSAGE: Whether an urgent care center should be open 365 days per year or close on major or minor holidays depends upon factors that influence profitability, such as patient demand, competitive positioning, staff availability, payer reimbursement, and the branding impact of after-hours accessibility. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, serves on the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association, and is Vice President …

Are Uber-like Medical Services Really a Practical Replacement for Urgent Care?

URGENT MESSAGE: The proliferation of smartphone-accessible, on-demand healthcare services delivered to patient homes has received a lot of media coverage recently, but the “UBER” model is hardly a practical replacement for walk-in urgent care. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, Practice Management Editor for JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association of America. Uber is …

Protecting Patients and Assets: Pre-employment Background Checks and Drug Screening

ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc, Experity A number of patients who had been dispensed the narcotic hydrocodone called the urgent care center to complain that their medications “weren’t potent enough,” that they “didn’t work,” or that the pills in the bottle “didn’t match the description on the label.” Although these reports were initially dismissed by the medical director as drug-seeking behavior, the volume and corroboration of complaints soon led to an internal investigation. It turned …

Concussion Care Adds Value to an Urgent Care Sports, Camp, and School Physical Program

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, is Practice Management Editor for JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a Board Director for the Urgent Care Association of America, and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives with Experity. Urgent message: Many urgent care centers have embraced school, sports, and camp physicals as a way to raise awareness of their services among athletic directors, coaches, trainers, and parents of high school and middle school students. Because of the increasing attention …