Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

When the ‘Inner Entrepreneur’ Needs to Step Aside

Urgent message: Being an aggressive founder who is willing to take risks is invaluable when it comes to starting and growing a business. However, after that business becomes established, it’s essential to transition into a new role as a leader so those same traits that helped start the business don’t also ruin it. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care Leaving behind the relative safety of working as a …

Dealing with the Emotional Impact of a Merger or Acquisition

Urgent message: Urgent care has seen significant merger and acquisition activity in recent years, which is certain to cause worries, frustrations and stresses for employees. Understanding the problems—as well as the opportunities—associated with a change in ownership better positions employees to assure both the company and their career interests are well served. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care, LLC and is Practice Management Editor at The Journal of Urgent …

Is PrEP Appropriate for Urgent Care?

Urgent message: Ever since HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was approved by the FDA in 2012, urgent care centers have been offering this service in increasing numbers as a way to increase revenue and serve new patient segments. However, some healthcare professionals question whether urgent care is an appropriate venue for dispensing such a powerful medication, as it can carry with it dangerous side effects and, if misused, serious health consequences. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc …

Becoming the Employer of Choice for the Emerging Urgent Care Workforce

Urgent message: A tight labor market combined with stagnant real wage growth and shifting worker expectations has placed the onus on employers to rethink their approaches to attracting, engaging, and retaining talent. Thus, the challenge for talent-hungry industries such as healthcare is to fully reimagine their workplaces such that they become the “employer of choice” for the modern, millennial-dominated workforce. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc As a nation, the U.S. is well into what experts …

How Urgent Care is the Antidote to Traditional Doctors’ Offices

Urgent message: Changing consumer expectations have led experts to question the future viability of “traditional” doctors’ offices, but urgent care provides a model for shifting from “caregiver-focused” to “patient-centric” care. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. In the not-so-distant future of healthcare, the familiar query Is the doctor in? could very well be met with a …

Building Ethical Organizations and Teams

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine Urgent message: As consumers pay closer attention to the ethical behaviors of the companies they do business with, the topic of workplace ethics has garnered renewed interest. Hence, the urgent care operator who makes a concerted effort to build an ethical workplace culture lays the groundwork for patient loyalty, …

Establishing Success Habits for Leaders and Organizations

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Urgent message: High achievers across industries and professions all share a common trait: the ability to leverage the power of habit to ingrain positive behaviors that lead to success. Hence, urgent care operators that can cultivate great habits in themselves and their teams effectively lay the foundation for a thriving …

Developing a Reimbursement Policy for CME and Other Employee Expenses

Urgent message: Every urgent care center should have a clear policy outlining which employee expenses, including CME-related expenses, it reimburses and how reimbursement occurs. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Managers, owners, and supervisors in nearly every field need to be familiar with the process of reimbursing employees for costs incurred while doing company business. Whether …

Thinking Differently About Paid Time Off

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care, LLC and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Urgent message: As 24/7 connectedness becomes the norm in the modern workplace, innovative technology companies have begun exploring unlimited paid time off (PTO) policies as a way to promote better work/life balance. Could unlimited PTO also become a trend in a healthcare industry that is likewise becoming increasingly 24/7 …

Facility Design: Cultivating Collaboration in the Back Office

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Urgent message: To move patients through the center quickly, urgent care demands near-constant communication among providers and staff. Eliminating enclosed provider offices in favor of shared workspaces promotes back office collaboration while keeping providers focused on clinic activities in real time. Urgent care reflects the seismic shift occurring in healthcare—traditional, …