Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

New York Occ Med Providers May See More DOT Physicals

The market for conducting Department of Transportation physicals just got a bit more urgent care-friendly in New York. As of June 1, chiropractors are no longer allowed to give DOT physicals for commercial motor vehicle drivers—giving urgent care operators that offer such services a leg up on expanding their occupational medicine business. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration contends that DOT physicals are outside a chiropractor’s scope of practice. Chiropractors are already lobbying to have …

Urgent Care Surges in Southeast Michigan

Southeast Michigan is seeing a surge of urgent care growth this spring—and industry watchers are saying operators can thank President Obama, in a roundabout way. Regional growth started to pick up speed after the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) was passed in 2010, fueled by an influx of newly insured patients who need care immediately, but who may have been steered into urgent care by employers hoping to stem rising emergency room bills. With …

UCA Webinar: How to Maximize Marketing to Millennials

Recent data reported here illustrate the challenges—and advantages, given their evolving perception of the healthcare marketplace—of reaching patients in the “millennial” demographic (defined by Pew Research as those who turned ages 15–34 in 2015). Chris Behan will draw on 20 years of experience in internet healthcare marketing to offer 5 Tips for Engaging the Millennial Patient Online, a free webinar to be hosted by the Urgent Care Association (UCA) on Thursday, June 23, 1–2 p.m. …

Urgent Team Keeps Growing with Purchase of Physicians Care

Urgent Team expanded its holdings in the southeast corner of the country to 29 locations with the purchase of Physicians Care and its eight locations in Tennessee. Headquartered in Nashville, Urgent Team now owns four brands—Urgent Team, Sherwood Urgent Care, Baptist Health Urgent Care, and Physicians Care—in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Physicians Care was founded by Bill Meadows, MD, who was also the founding president of the Urgent Care Association of America; he will remain …

Bucking a Trend, Pharmacy Will Offer Urgent Care, Not Retail-Level Services

The knock on retail clinics like those found in retail chains and big-box stores is that they offer a limited menu of services, administered most often by nonphysicians. One pharmacy is bucking that trend by bringing a physician into the fold to create a hybrid community drugstore/ urgent care center that provides a higher level of care in a proper exam room. Sona Pharmacy + Clinic in Asheville, NC bills itself as “a different kind …

Advantage, Urgent Care? Plans Are Already Passing ACA Losses Off on Members

Urgent care operators may have new leverage when negotiating reimbursements or appealing to cash-paying patients in North Carolina. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) says it has lost $280 million by covering residents under the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”)—and in response, it’s filing for a 2017 rate increase of 18.8%. BCBSNC says higher-than-expected ED visits and orthopedic treatments (the cost of which could be greatly diminished if appropriate patients visited …

Another Urgent Care Center Makes House Calls New Again

Whether due to transportation issues, childcare needs, or concern about being exposed to others’ germs when they’re already not feeling well, some patients find “convenient care” not quite convenient enough. Remedy, an urgent care company in Austin, TX is one of a number of providers looking to fulfill their urgent care needs by leveraging the advantages of electronic communication to offer an old-fashioned convenience (namely, house calls). Designed to take convenient care to the next …

With Less Competition, ACA Insurers Plan Major Price Increases

With many health insurers already scaling back—or vacating—state exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”), companies that plan on continuing to offer coverage may start charging members more for the “privilege” of being insured soon. Insurance industry projections show that many states could see jumps of 20% or so, while plan members in Pennsylvania and Georgia could see premiums go up by more than a third next year. Initially, 23 health insurance co-ops …

Too Many Kids Head to Primary Care, Not Urgent Care, with Suspected Concussions

New data published in JAMA Pediatrics indicate that far too many children suspected of having a concussion are evaluated first in a primary care office. Between 2010 and 2014, 81.9% of young patients ultimately seen at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) had their first concussion-related healthcare visit in the primary care setting. Urgent care was a nonfactor, as the remainder sought care first in the emergency room (not surprising, given that the data set was …

Freestanding ER Sticker Shock Still an Issue Despite Transparency Laws

Urgent care operators who face competition from freestanding emergency rooms should emphasize cost differences compared with urgent care, and remind patients that vigilance may be needed to tell the difference between the two. Patients in Texas, for example, are finding that a new law requiring freestanding emergency rooms to post notices that fees may be comparable to a hospital emergency room doesn’t go far enough in preventing surprisingly big bills postcare. One problem: The nature …