Practice Management
Steve Sellars February always seems to arrive with a sense of motion. The year is no longer “new,” plans begin to take shape, and the work ahead becomes clearer. For Urgent Care, that momentum feels especially meaningful right now. During the first week of February, the Urgent Care Association (UCA) convened leaders from across the country in Washington, D.C., for our 2026 Capitol Hill Advocacy Day. It was a powerful reminder of what happens when …
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As we begin a new year, I’m struck by both the resilience of the Urgent Care community and the urgency of the moment we’re in. Over the past several months, through conversations with operators, clinicians, vendors, and other partners, one message has been unmistakably clear: Urgent Care is ready to move forward together with renewed purpose, a stronger voice, and a sharper vision for the future. 2026 will be a pivotal year. The pressures facing …
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As we close out 2025, I find myself reflecting on a year defined by both challenge and progress. It’s been a year of reconnection—of reestablishing relationships, realigning priorities, and recommitting to what makes Urgent Care such an essential part of healthcare. Whether through chapter conferences, advocacy meetings, or direct conversations with our members, one message continues to ring true: our collective story has never been more important to tell, and data is one of the …
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In last month’s column, I wrote about the importance of proving Urgent Care’s value—not just in terms of access and convenience, but also in demonstrating the quality outcomes and systemwide impact that make our care essential to patients, payers, employers, and policymakers alike. Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the privilege of hearing from many of you who share this same commitment and are eager to help strengthen Urgent Care’s position in the healthcare …
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Over the last few months, I’ve had the privilege of spending time with Lou Ellen Horwitz, my predecessor and now past CEO of the Urgent Care Association (UCA), as part of my onboarding. She’s been generous with her knowledge and perspective, helping me understand the many administrative details that keep UCA and our affiliates running smoothly. That investment of time has been invaluable, and I’m grateful for her continued support during this transition. At the …
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My friends, we have come a long way together in the last 5 years! Let me remind you of how far. My first JUCM column in my second term as CEO at the Urgent Care Association (UCA) in July 2020 was an admonishment to us all: We had to come together if we were ever going to create change on a national level. Over the next 5 years, you did precisely that. Through tremendous adversity, …
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It’s an incredible honor to be writing this column as the new CEO of the Urgent Care Association (UCA). I’ve long admired the work of this organization, and over the past several years, I’ve had the privilege of engaging with many of you as a colleague, advocate, and fellow believer in the value Urgent Care brings to healthcare. Stepping into this role feels less like a new beginning and more like a full-circle moment—one that …
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Urgent Care people would rather drive change than reactively manage its aftereffects. The same is true of all of us who lead the Urgent Care Association (UCA), College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM), Urgent Care College of Physicians (UCCOP), Urgent Care Foundation (UCF), Commission on Ambulatory and Urgent Care Quality (CAUCQ), and our regional chapters. To drive change, you must evolve fast enough to stay ahead, but evolving is usually a messy business. That’s been …
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The annual Urgent Care Convention is always my prime time for taking the pulse of the field. I hope you were among those able to join us in Dallas last month! There’s just no substitute for in-person conversations and observations. What I expected to hear is not what I heard. There are a lot of reasons to be pessimistic right now; some of them are new and some are the same challenges we’ve been working …
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The Urgent Care Convention is the launchpad for many of the new products and services for the year from our vendor community, the Urgent Care Association (UCA), and our affiliates. This year is no exception, so I wanted to tell you about a few big things coming out in May. The first is a new organization. Last year, the UCA Board voted to elevate our quality department into its own organization to better recognize quality …
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