Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Study Sees More Patients, Fewer Doctors Ahead

The growing ranks of older U.S. citizens and the Affordable Care Act (APA, or “Obamacare”) add up to a need for more and more physicians as time goes by, but a new study says the number of qualified physicians is not keeping pace. The research from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) points to shortages among specialties, in particular. The portion of the U.S. population over the age of 65 is expected to grow …

Emergency Room Traffic Continues to Grow Under ACA

An influx of newly insured patients is just one reason emergency room traffic continues to go up in the age of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”), according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lack of access to primary care providers in general is especially problematic among Medicaid patients; often, they find access to be untimely, at a median wait time of 2 weeks for an appointment—if a conveniently …

Potentially Avoidable ED Visits Cost Over $1.3 Billion—in New York Alone

If just 10 common, low-acuity conditions had been treated somewhere other than the emergency room, the health system in New York could have saved $1.3 billion, according to state Department of Health claims data analyzed by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. That analysis takes into account 6.4 million ED visits—more than 2 million of which were deemed suitable for treatment in an urgent care center, primary care office, or via telemedicine—for “bumps and bruises,” joint aches, ear …

U.S. Workers More Concerned with Cost than Choice of Providers

Cost appears to be more important than choice of physician for U.S. workers, according to a new survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Premiums were cited as a “major factor” when choosing a health plan by 79% of participants, compared with only 53% who cited a plan’s provider network. These data align well with key attributes of the urgent care setting (eg, easy access, relatively low cost, and convenience). Only 66% said they are …

Despite Poor Comparisons vs Urgent Care, Hedge Fund Gambles on Freestanding ERs

Patients, politicians, and insurers have been united in complaining that freestanding emergency rooms don’t offer sufficient transparency when it comes to billing practices, but that hasn’t stopped hedge-fund guru Steven Cohen from gobbling up 5% of First Choice Emergency Rooms parent company Adeptus Health. The backlash against freestanding ERs has coincided with a growing awareness that urgent care is a viable, more accessible, and less expensive option for many patients. A study by Anthem Blue …

Data Show More Institutions Getting into the Urgent Care Market

Hospital chains and insurance companies continue to invest in urgent care centers at an ever-increasing pace, while also forging partnerships with independently owned clinics, according to a report from Merchant Medicine. The perception is that as Americans live to an older age—and stay active longer while doing it—they want more convenient care for nonemergent injuries while maintaining a relationship with institutions they’ve come to trust. Current data from the Urgent Care Association (UCA) show that …

Aetna-Humana Merger Bears Close Scrutiny from the Justice Department

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division has vowed to look “very, very carefully” at the implications of the proposed merger between Aetna and Humana. At the heart of their consideration will be how less competition among insurers will affect the price and availability of care for consumers. If the deal is ultimately approved by the government, there will be only three large, national insurance providers. A growing number of states are raising concerns about …

Urgent Care Staffing Provider Now in Envision Healthcare’s Fold

Envision Healthcare Holdings, Inc. has reached an agreement to buy physician-owned Emergency Physicians Medical Group (EPMG), which staffs 37 urgent care centers and various hospital departments in six states. All told, EPMG’s 500 clinicians manage nearly a million patient encounters annually. Envision expects EPMG will contribute approximately $140 million in net revenue annually. EPMG also operates community paramedicine programs and provides telemedicine services in urgent care and postacute care operations.

McKesson Leaving the Small-Practice EHR Business

McKesson is getting out of the business of providing electronic health record and practice management products to small physician practices by virtue of selling those product lines to e-MDs. Urgent care providers have been among the 35,000 customers, which average 1.5 physicians per practice, relying on those services. There is no timeline for the deal to be completed, though e-MDs says there will be “some time limit” to how long it will support the McKesson …

Are Educated Citizens More Likely to Become Urgent Care Patients?

Urgent care clinicians and owners are ratcheting up efforts to enlighten their potential patient base on the benefits and value of urgent care. Local media outlets have been awash recently in physician-penned articles explaining what presenting complaints can be managed in the urgent care setting vs those that truly need the resources of an emergency room. Now some operators are taking their message to the streets by conducting live patient education seminars. Case in point: …