Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

The Benefits of Near-Site vs Onsite Employee Clinics

There has been a push by some large, single-campus employers in recent years to develop onsite clinics for occupational medicine and health/wellness (including urgent and primary care). The typical model has employers paying all costs associated with the clinic, as well as a set fee to the management company. In an industrial setting where an RN can provide first aid for workplace injuries and track compliance towards OSHA regulations, the model can be justified. But in office settings …

Checklists Are as Essential in the Office as in the Cockpit

As an FAA-licensed commercial multi-engine instrument pilot, I have been well versed in the importance of checklists. When lives are at stake, a pilot cannot afford to overlook details pertaining to the configuration and operation of the airplane. For example, failing to assure the landing gear is fully down or that flaps are set properly upon approach can be deadly. Checklists help assure that pilots, no matter how experienced, don’t overlook anything. Likewise, checklists can …

Meet the New Neighbors to Help Meet Your Bottom Line

The United States is a transient society, with approximately 12% of Americans changing residences each year. The rates are much higher for those living in apartments (24%) vs owner-occupied homes (5%) and for young people under age 34 (34%) than those more established in their homes, families, and careers. Data also indicate a continued out-migration from dense urban areas to the suburbs and exurbs and from the “rust belt” to the “sunbelt.” When a family …

Patients Can’t Wait? Try to Keep Them ‘in the Family’

If patients walk out the door because the wait in your clinic is too long, that doesn’t have to signal lost business. You can still capture the revenue that would have been generated on the spot and maintain good customer service by encouraging them to visit another of your company’s locations. Take Intermountain Healthcare (IHC), which operates 31 InstaCare/KidsCare centers across Utah. Within the Salt Lake Valley, these urgent care locations are typically no more …

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 …

You Close at What Time!?

I do most of my banking online and through the ATM. Recently, though, I needed to conduct business in person at a JPMorganChase branch. I knew the branch closed at 6:00 pm so I broke away from the office, dodged North Dallas traffic, and rushed into the branch at 5:58 pm, sliding in just before they locked the doors. Or did I? When the manager saw me she asked, “Did you rush to get here?” …

What to Show on Your Waiting Room Television Set

Part of the beauty of urgent care is that patients spend less time waiting to be seen. Even minimal time spent waiting can be made more pleasant—thus enhancing the patient experience—with access to magazines, newspapers, television, and refreshments to alleviate uncertainty, boredom, and aggravation. If you’ve added a television to the media offered to patients, consider carefully what they’ll be watching. Generally, urgent care centers display three types of programming: • Cable news (eg, CNN, …