Practice Management
Urgent message: Establishing a practice website takes careful planning and execution but it can enhance traditional marketing efforts by providing a central repository of relevant information for prospective patients. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity When consumers experience a minor illness or injury, numerous questions arise, such as “What do these symptoms mean?” “Can I do something about this myself?” and “What kind of help do I need, where do I get it, and …
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Urgent message: Letting employees go is never easy. This article offers tips for protecting your business and yourself if termination is necessary. Among the key recommendations are compiling documentation and seeking legal advice. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity Letting an employee go, whether due to job performance or economic necessity, is never a pleasant situation. Although an urgent care center strives to provide high-quality patient care, it’s also a business. This means that …
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Urgent message: Cultivating trust requires good communication and if a language barrier stands between patient and provider, not only are clinical outcomes jeopardized, but the urgent care operation can be subject to legal liability. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity The demographics of the United States are rapidly changing. Today a language other than English is spoken in 55 million households, 67% of which speak Spanish, and an estimated 19% of Americans have Limited …
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Urgent message: The costs of and barriers to adding WiFi to an urgent care center are low and the benefits include a better patient experience and improved perception of wait times. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc, Experity WiFi is now ubiquitous. Step into most any coffee house, theme restaurant, library, shopping mall or other service establishment and you’ll find that Internet access is readily available and usually free of charge. Many hospitals have also introduced …
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Urgent message: Expanding into occupational medicine requires a long-term commitment and willingness to respond to employer and employee needs. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc, Experity Urgent care providers have conventionally defined their offering as “treatment of acutely rising episodic medical conditions.” However, widespread acceptance of the urgent care business model-retail-facing locations, extended hours, and walk-in service—has led many urgent care centers to expand into longitudinal primary care as well as occupational medicine. Specifically, when people …
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Urgent message: Despite the best staff planning, urgent care centers sometimes need to turn to locum tenens firms to fill the “bench.” Understanding the challenges these firms face is one key to success. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc, Experity Regardless of how aesthetically pleasing an urgent care facility, how convenient its hours, how creative its marketing, or how sophisticated its technology, the ultimate “product” is its clinicians and the solutions they provide for patients’ immediate …
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Urgent message: An urgent care entrepreneur is the “product” and must become skilled at promoting him/herself. When you “wear your brand,” you call attention to what you have to offer, generating awareness of an interest in your urgent care center. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc, ExperityOn a recent visit to a popular bakery-café, I noticed a young woman on the sofa working on her laptop. For passersby, there was no question about which candidate would …
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Urgent message: Hiring the right candidate for a job at an urgent care center is an art and a science, but a variety of tools exist to facilitate the process. WILLIAM MARTY MARTIN, PSYD, MPH, MA, MS This article is designed to equip urgent care clinic owners with the tools they need to hire better than they have in the past. After reading it, you will be able to: (1) organize your hiring process around …
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