Practice Management
In 2023, the urgent care industry added 1,057 de novo locations—new sites that did not previously exist. But these new centers are far more likely to be owned by larger entities with 10 or more units, also called “enterprise” operators. In fact, according to data from National Urgent Care Realty analyzed by Experity, for the past 4 years, 10+ unit operators have been the drivers of new rooftop growth. Prior to 2020, the industry was led …
Read More
Commuting in Jakarta can be a nightmare. The average citizen in Indonesia’s capital city spends weeks stuck in urban transit each year. Compare this with Singapore, which is consistently rated one of the best cities in the world for commuters. The difference between the day-to-day experience of residents of each city is stark. The root cause of why these two metropolises of southeast Asia have such disparate commuter experiences lies in the contrast of how …
Read More
Do you remember what it was like in the summer of 2020? If that summer had a theme, it would have been “overlooked.” Everyone was jumping up and down and waving their arms to get the attention of suppliers, government agencies, payers, diagnostic companies, and pharmaceutical companies so we could meet the needs of the patients literally lining up in front of our centers. We had to fight for every single thing we got, and …
Read More
Urgent Message: When offered as a medical service consistent with an urgent care center’s branding, IV infusion services can enable new revenue streams and expand the center’s appeal to a new base of patients. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc According to the Urgent Care Association (UCA), the capability to administer intravenous (IV) medications is a defining feature of urgent care.1 Along with x-ray services and suturing, the availability of IV treatment differentiates urgent care from …
Read More
Over the last 20 years, the Concussion in Sport Group has met periodically to develop statements guiding the assessment and management of sports related concussions. The most recent meeting of the group took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in October 2022 and produced updated and freely available, evidence-informed tools to assist in the detection and assessment of sports related concussion (SRC). These tools include: the Concussion Recognition Tool-6 (CRT6); Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-6 (SCAT6); Child SCAT6; …
Read More
The urgent care industry continues to add de novo centers, according to data from Experity and National Urgent Care Realty. Although de novo growth slowed in 2023 by 5%, 2023 de novos are still 16% higher than 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. In addition to continued overall growth of the industry, the data indicates structural changes in who is opening de novos. A “de novo” urgent care refers to a center that did not previously …
Read More
Benjamin Barlow, MD; Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC One of the biggest challenges facing urgent care operators is increased scrutiny in the form of payer reviews. More clients than ever are facing these administrative and financial burdens. Compounding the issue is that urgent care clinicians often struggle to understand coding guidelines and how to document in a way that shows their medical decision making, which is vital in care and in payer reviews. Prepayment …
Read More
Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC One of the biggest challenges for an urgent care is billing insurance as a non-participating provider. When opening a new practice or adding a clinic, completed credentialing and contracting is essential and has a direct impact on the overall success for a new business. Opening without effective dates may result in cash flow shortages due to the fact that most health plans will not offer retroactive effective dates. Additionally, …
Read More
“Driving Change” is our overarching convention theme that we build on each year. When you are busy Driving Change in healthcare delivery, there aren’t a lot of breaks. In just the normal day-to-day of Urgent Care, you are anticipating, meeting, and exceeding the needs of your patients. You are doing the same for your occupational medicine employer customers. You are doing the same for your colleagues. You are doing the same for your strategic partners. …
Read More
Alan A. Ayers, MBA, Macc Urgent Message: Urgent care is a consumer-driven phenomenon, and physician entrepreneurs continue to evolve the delivery of urgent care services in response to changing consumer preferences, both inside and beyond the brick-and-mortar facility. Citation: Ayers A. Thinking outside the box to bring urgent care to the patient. J Urgent Care Med. 2024;18(4): 31-33. While unregulated by most states, the term “urgent care” historically has come to mean a base offering …
Read More