Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Can PAs and NPs Unionize in Urgent Care Settings?

Urgent message: Urgent care’s workforce has changed from primarily emergency physicians to physician assistants and nurse practitioners now making up the bulk of providers. Whereas physicians historically have been excluded from joining a union, recent efforts to organize PAs and NPs have garnered media attention. While just over 10% of U.S. employees belonged to a union in 2019, a number of groups in industries that do not traditionally have a union presence have gone on …

What’s the Best Policy for Unlocking an Urgent Care’s Doors when a Provider isn’t Present?

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is President of Experity Networks and is Senior Editor, Practice Management of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Urgent message: Whether an urgent care must have a provider on-site during all operating hours comes down to the operator’s risk tolerance. As a matter of patient safety, many urgent care centers have adopted a policy that if no provider is on-site, they must lock the doors and refuse entry of any …

Refunds: How to Avoid Them

Refunds have always been a challenge in healthcare. Not only do they create an administrative burden but there is also the potential for compliance risk. Some common causes for refunds are: Not validating the patient’s insurance eligibility and collecting the wrong copay amount Choosing a blanket amount to collect from all patients up front regardless of whether they have insurance (ie, over collecting at the time of service) Sending statements too early, causing duplicate payments …

PAs Aren’t Just ‘Assisting’ in Providing Urgent Care

In this issue’s Health Law article, What’s the Best Policy for Unlocking an Urgent Care’s Doors when a Provider Isn’t Present? (page 19), author Alan Ayers, MBA, MAcc points to the capabilities of advanced practice providers as one rationale some urgent care operators use when opting to stay open for business when a physician isn’t present. You could even go a step further and make the argument that the degree of direct care provided by …

Considerations for Urgent Care Operators on Equal Pay Legislation and Enforcement

Urgent message: As we see a shift to an overwhelming female workforce in urgent care, it is essential that urgent care operators understand the conditions of, and develop policies to be compliant with, employment laws requiring equal pay among genders. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, is President of Experity Networks and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. INTRODUCTION Many urgent care centers already pay the same hourly rate for all …

Yes, Disparities in Prescribing Exist in Urgent Care—but Which Disparities?

If you read Evaluation of Healthcare Disparities in Urgent Care: A Case Example for Bacterial Pneumonia—see page 23 of this issue—you know that the proportion of appropriate prescriptions written for an on-label medication (in this case, doxycycline for bacterial pneumonia) may differ among various demographic groups. While the conclusions of that study do not necessarily make a cause-and-effect connection, the data should inspire some analysis as to possible rationale for differences for care of various …

Thinking About Buying or Selling an Urgent Care Center?

Urgent message: While market conditions for mergers and acquisitions are currently “hot,” variability in urgent care volume attributable to COVID-19 has led to changes in how deals are evaluated and structured. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is President of Experity Networks and is Senior Editor of the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine Nationally, merger-and-acquisition activity has set a record pace across all industries since the start of the pandemic. Corporations, private equity funds, and buyout …

More People Really Are Trying Telehealth These Days—but That Doesn’t Mean They Prefer It

There’s been a lot of discussion (including in JUCM and JUCM News) as to whether the COVID-19 pandemic would usher in a Golden Age of telehealth, whether within urgent care or in possible competition with urgent care. Now that we’re approaching 2 years in, actual data on the subject are starting to emerge. First, some background: Household Experiences in American During the Delta Variant Outbreak, a survey conducted this year for NPR, the Robert …

Who in a Company Can Bind the Company in a Contract?

Urgent message: While legal documents may define who in an urgent care is able to legally obligate the company, such as when ordering a service or signing a contract, there are cases where “unauthorized” individuals can still bind the company—meaning the organization must have clear internal policies on signing authority. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Let’s say that a physician employed at an urgent care facility is working on a Saturday when a toilet backs …