Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Using Key Performance Indicators to Measure, Track, and Improve Performance in Urgent Care

Urgent message: Key performance indicators provide the yardstick by which urgent care strategy and execution are tracked over time, highlighting areas requiring management intervention, facilitating comparison with peers, and enabling a culture of continual improvement. Introduction Key performance indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable business metrics used by organizations to gauge various aspects of their performance over time. Regular monitoring and evaluation of KPIs help provide insight into an organization’s financial health and spotlight organizational strengths and weaknesses. KPIs are also used to set strategic and …

Reasons for Patronage

In 2015, Merchant Medicine (Shoreview, Minnesota) released data from a detailed national study conducted in 2014 regarding U.S. patients’ preferences regarding retail clinics versus urgent care clinics versus primary-care physicians’ offices. The survey involved more than 2,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 54 years and was conducted by Sparks Research and Merchant Medicine on behalf of DXM Marketing Group. Survey data showed that the reasons patients chose a specific type of health-care setting …

Impacted Cerumen

Q. When a patient comes in with ear pain due to impacted cerumen, the health-care provider would normally instruct the nurse to perform ear irrigation. If the irrigation successfully removed the impacted cerumen, the procedure would be considered part of any evaluation and management (E/M) service and we could not bill for the service separately. With new rules regarding cerumen removal this year, can we get reimbursed for the ear irrigation if it is not …

Critical Due Diligence Issues for Buyers and Sellers of Urgent Care Centers

Urgent message: Because deal activity for urgent care centers has been on the rise, prospective buyers and sellers of urgent care centers should understand key issues in preparing a center for sale or acquisition, sharing information, and ensuring compliance with the doctrine of corporate practice of medicine and with other health-care regulations. Introduction No segment of the U.S. health-care services industry has seen more merger and acquisition activity over the past few years than the urgent care market (which includes occupational health). Dozens …

Joint Ventures Between Health Systems and Urgent Care: Achieving the Best of Both Worlds

Urgent message: As hospitals and health systems develop and grow +their urgent care footprints, many leverage the expertise and experience of outside partners. Five common affiliation models fit differing strategic objectives and distinct market conditions. As the number of urgent care centers increases across the United States, so too do the variety of urgent care center models and the ways in which urgent care centers seek to meet the growing demand for urgent care. Gone are the …

Corporate Practice of Medicine: Could Your Current Operating Structure Be at Risk?

Urgent message: State laws prohibiting the corporate practice of medicine are often skirted by business arrangements that segregate a professional entity from a management company, but these arrangements can still pose significant risks to providers unless specific steps are taken to ensure the segregation of clinical and management activities. Introduction The corporate practice of medicine doctrine dates back to the inception of physician licensure laws. The tenet is derived from the legal requirement that only a …

Percentage of Annual Patient Visits by Month

Data from the 2014 Urgent Care Chart Survey of 1,778,075 annual visits by patients to more than 800 different U.S. urgent care clinics, conducted by the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, reveal that the busiest months of 2014 for patient visits were, in descending order: January, with 9.7% of all visits May, with 9.6% of all visits March, with 9.5% of all visits April and December, each with 9.1% of all visits The survey’s methodology …

Fracture Care

Q. Will you please help me understand initial visit, subsequent visit, and sequelae related to fracture care? If the patient is treated elsewhere for a fracture and the provider just stabilizes the fracture and instructs the patient to then come to my office for reduction, is this a subsequent visit or an initial visit? A. International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision, ClinicalModification (ICD-10-CM) guidelines state that a seventh character, A, is used for the initial …

Open-Book Management: Using Transparency and Gamification to Engage and Empower Frontline Staff

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity Urgent care requires dedicated, engaged, and focused frontline staff members to deliver the types of patient experiences that spur repeat visits and positive word of mouth. Yet a Gallup poll conducted in 2014 showed that a paltry 32% of U.S. workers are truly engaged in their jobs.1 That means that more than two-thirds of America’s workforce is simply going through the motions—which engagement experts have clearly demonstrated has a …

Medications 21 Through 40 by Percentage of Prescriptions Written (Brands and Generics Together)

Last month, in our March 2016 issue, we reported data for 2014 on the top 20 medications prescribed in U.S. urgent care centers. This month, we bring you percentages for the next 20 most-prescribed medications (items 21–40). The data were obtained as part of the 2014 Urgent Care Chart Survey of 150 million annual visits by patients to more than 800 different urgent care clinics. The survey was conducted by the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. The survey’s methodology …