Industry

Google, Facebook, and maybe even Twitter and Instagram have become common avenues for urgent care operators to reach new patients online. Visits related to another app are exploding all of a sudden, however. According to an article published online by FIERCE Healthcare, bookings from the online provider search/appointment app Zocdoc have grown by 80%, month over month while the number of UCCs has grown almost 40% month over month. That reflects visits to more than …

New Jersey’s largest healthcare system just signed on to take part in the new Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport (ET3) pilot program being rolled out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. As reported by New Jersey Business Magazine, patients in need of EMS services at Hackensack Meridian Health’s Hackensack University Medical Center and JFK University Medical Center will now have the option to be taken by EMS to urgent care instead of the …

Urgent care providers who have achieved doctorate-level degrees can only introduce themselves or be referred to as “Dr.” if they’ve earned MD or DO status, according to a new law just passed in Georgia. Predictably, groups like the American Society of Anesthesiologists applaud the move while the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, for one, objects, as reported by MedPage Today. The law mandates that specific licenses and or/degrees be specified on ID badges, in advertisements, …

JUCM News readers know that state and federal regulations adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic are being rescinded or are expiring in waves, with direct and indirect effects on urgent care. With May 11 marking the end of the official federal public health emergency, the Association of American Medical Colleges’ AAMC News reports that some 17 million people formerly covered via emergency Medicaid enrollment are now likely to lose that coverage, with approximately 6.8 million not …

Medical and mainstream media are again full of articles reporting on the urgent—and steadily growing—challenge of ensuring people experiencing a mental health crisis get care when they need it. Most recently, the Journal of the American Medical Association published research revealing that children and young adults, in particular, present to emergency room with mental health complaints in greater numbers than ever, including a steep increase in visits related to suicide. The article notes that while …

It’s been the contention of the urgent care industry for a long time that patients who do not have truly emergent complaints should not be in the emergency room, where they’re likely to face long waits and incur greater costs than they need to. For those patients, urgent care centers are the more sensible option. Data showing a link between the available of urgent care and reduced ED traffic were slow in coming, but over …

Regardless of one’s personal perspective on the move by some states to restrict access to abortions, there is a very real concern that such legislation could ultimately worsen provider shortages. As reported by MedPage Today, new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges show that already-declining numbers of medical-school graduates applying for positions are falling faster in states that have enacted legislation restricting abortions. The dip is especially precipitous in obstetrics and gynecology, as …

Provider burnout is probably most associated with having too many clinical responsibilities competing for your attention, combined with the ever-present threat of oversights and errors that could harm a patient and ultimately decimate your practice. And while that’s all a significant part of the mix, the COVID-19 pandemic raised the specter that burnout can result from being underactive, as well, according to an article from the American Medical Association. That observation came from Shawn C. …

If the results of a survey from AMN Healthcare are correct, most nurses currently employed in the hospital setting will be doing something else, or at least nursing somewhere else, within the next year. Of the 18,000 nurses who participated in the research, only 15% said they expect to “continue working as I am” in a year. Much of the blame is being placed on the COVID-19 pandemic; 18% of participants said they’re likely to …