Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Millennials Are Drifting Away from Primary Care—Just as They Need a Physician Most

There’s no gentle way to put it: Members of the Millennial generation simply are not as interested in having a traditional relationship with a primary care provider as their predecessors have been. That shouldn’t be surprising, though, given that each successive generation seems to drift farther from that model of care. Where 82% of Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) report having a primary care provider, the same can be said for only …

Millennials Are the Biggest Segment of the Workforce—What Does That Mean for Urgent Care?

Urgent message: As millions of the “millennial generation” enter and advance in the workplace, urgent care centers must adapt to remain competitive and sought-after employers in their communities. The healthcare landscape is ever-evolving, and is currently experiencing sweeping change across many fronts. Whether it’s, say, changing reimbursement models or innovation in how care gets delivered, urgent care operators are having to adapt to rapid change at a breakneck pace. Going beyond novel patient cohorts and …

Hospital Systems Continue to Jump on the Urgent Care Bandwagon

Whether it’s due to changes in the healthcare insurance landscape, the habits of millennials, or just plain societal evolution, the public continues to recognize urgent care as a viable option more every year—reflected in the increasing number of centers around the country (up 10% since 2015, according to the Urgent Care Association of America). Hospitals were a little late to the party, but are making up for lost time by continuing to open their own …

Millennials Are Most Likely to Head to Urgent Care with Flu

While the University of Georgia joins the pack of institutions warning that immunizations are dangerously low this flu season (roughly 40% of what they should be at this time of year), a new study by Amino reveals that patients in the millennial age group are the most likely to visit either an urgent care center or the emergency room when the think they have the flu. These two pieces of data, though flowing from different …

Millennials Not Alone in Dodging Flu Shots

We told you recently that fewer than half the patients in the “millennials” age group (roughly, those born between 1982 and 2004) are planning to get a flu shot this year—in spite of the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging patients in general to get vaccinated earlier than ever. Now a study by UPI indicates that U.S. parents who don’t get their kids immunized make that choice because they simply …

Millennials Have to Be Convinced Flu Shots Are More Important Than Lattes

More than half of Americans between 18 and 34 years of age say they don’t plan to get a flu shot this year, with cost being a key factor. Of the 2,080 adults surveyed by CityMD Urgent Care surveyed last month, 433 were “millennials”; only 48% of them said they plan to get a flu shot. Those who don’t plan to get one cited disbelief that the vaccination would keep them from getting the flu …

More Data Show Millennials May Be Ripe for Urgent Care

Yet another study indicates that “millennials”—individuals between 18 and 36 years of age—have a tough time affording basic healthcare costs (including insurance, in many cases). One out of five says they can’t afford routine health costs, while an additional 26% say they can afford routine healthcare costs, but with difficulty. The Harris Poll found that 70% consider cost to be a “very important” factor when looking for healthcare, and that 16% do not intend to …

UCA Webinar: How to Maximize Marketing to Millennials

Recent data reported here illustrate the challenges—and advantages, given their evolving perception of the healthcare marketplace—of reaching patients in the “millennial” demographic (defined by Pew Research as those who turned ages 15–34 in 2015). Chris Behan will draw on 20 years of experience in internet healthcare marketing to offer 5 Tips for Engaging the Millennial Patient Online, a free webinar to be hosted by the Urgent Care Association (UCA) on Thursday, June 23, 1–2 p.m. …

Urgent Care Survey: Baby Boomers Want Quality; Millennials Consider Cost More

Most Americans understand their healthcare options, but diverse age groups value different attributes when deciding where to get that care, according to a new survey by the Urgent Care Association of America. Quality factors, such as having a physician on site (a prevalent urgent care attribute compared with retail clinics more often staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants), were more important to patients in older age groups, while affordability and location were more important …