Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

To Lease or Buy Medical Equipment: What’s Best for Your Practice?

Urgent message: Give ample consideration to the key factors—your credit history, taxes, technology, the cost of maintenance, and what your business truly needs—before deciding whether buying or leasing equipment is best for your urgent care operation. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Whether to lease or buy equipment for your urgent care center is …

Respirator Fit Exams Breathe New Life into Occ Med Urgent Care Offerings

Urgent Message: Urgent care centers that offer occupational medicine services play an important role in protecting the safety of the nation’s workforce. One such service—offering respiratory fit testing—constitutes an important element of that mission while also creating a distinct revenue stream. To truly maximize the potential of offering this valuable eservice, however, it is important to understand the OSHA regulations, secure proper equipment, and assure staff is properly trained to conduct respirator fit tests. Alan …

What Constitutes Consent for Treatment of a Minor in Urgent Care?

Urgent message: Urgent care centers must use all reasonable efforts to comply with informed-consent and consent-to-minors laws. This should include consulting with legal counsel on the specific laws of the state and developing protocols to shield the center from possible litigation. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Introduction Medical practices like urgent care centers …

Disaster Strikes—What’s the Plan for Your Urgent Care Center?

Urgent message: Urgent care centers exist to help people who need to see a healthcare professional today. When that need coincides with a natural or manmade disaster, every location must have a plan of action to ensure any downtime is minimal, staff needs are met, and the business is able to survive. Introduction No region of the country—for that matter, no state, town, neighborhood, or block—is immune from disabling disasters. Hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, forest fires, …

Legal Restriction of Urgent Care Businesses by Municipalities

Urgent Message: As some municipalities have considered placing—or have already placed—restrictions on the opening of new urgent care centers in their communities, urgent care developers should understand the legality and business impact of such local moratoria. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and is Practice Management Editor for The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Recently, after much consideration, the Manhattan Beach (CA) City Council rejected a …

How to Make Workplace Meetings More Productive

Urgent message: Despite most employees’ abhorrence to meetings, they indeed serve a valuable organizational purpose. The key is to keep them short, focused, free of distractions, and actionable. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. The next time you find yourself bored and distracted in yet another meeting, take solace in the fact that you’re not …

Understanding the Ins and Outs of Triple Net Leases

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Urgent Message: As urgent care expands into traditional retail space, it’s important to understand the obligations of leases that require tenants to act as property “owners” responsible for all taxes, utilities, and maintenance of the real estate. While the defining characteristic of urgent care facilities across the country …

Why Urgent Care Needs More Controllers, Fewer Empathizers

Urgent message: The rise of self-service technologies means that when patients actually do need to interact with frontline staff to resolve a service issue, their more complicated issues, more stringent demands, and higher expectations require an opinionated and outspoken “controller” personality type to take control of the situation. As urgent care relies on positive of word-of-mouth to drive new and repeat visits, a center not only must deliver an exceptional patient experience, but also resolve …

Cultivating Change in the Workplace

Urgent message: The strength of an urgent care operation ultimately lies in its people; for any change initiative to be successful, your center’s staff has to be prepared and willing to embrace change. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and is Practice Management Editor for The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. In the workplace, as in life, the only real constant is change. And nowhere is …

The Life Cycle of Urgent Care Acquisitions

Urgent message: Urgent care’s success in delivering a retail healthcare experience has attracted the attention of private equity and hospital investors; understanding the deal timeline is an essential first step for an urgent care operator interested in buying or selling a business. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Introduction Urgent care centers are popular among …