Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Midwest Urgent Care Leaders Head to Michigan to Drive Change!

The Urgent Care Association of Michigan, working with the Urgent Care Association and the College of Urgent Care Medicine, is laying the groundwork for its regional conference, scheduled to take place July 17 and 18 at The Henry Hotel in Dearborn, MI. Built around the theme of Drive Change!, the conference will feature 30 sessions broken into four tracks (Midwest Clinician, UC Management, Clinical Support & Super MA, and Hands-on Lab). Content is designed for …

UCA Campaign Garners ‘Best of the Year’ Honors

If you noticed a lot of stories in the local newspaper and TV news reports trying to spell out the difference between the emergency room and urgent care—and when one should go to one or the other—in the last year, thank the Urgent Care Association. Or, better yet, congratulation them on winning awards for their Urgency or Emergency? campaign. The campaign, led by the PR firm of L.C. Williams & Associates, won “best of the …

UCA Webinar: Market Urgent Care and Occ Med Services the Right (ie, Profitable) Way

Urgent care and occupational medicine seem to go together naturally—small wonder, then, that 91% of urgent care centers offer some form of occupational medicine services, according to a mini survey from the Urgent Care Association. It’s profitable, too; of the centers that do have occ med, over half said it accounts for up to 15% of their business. Part of that success lies in offering quality services at a reasonable price, but you still have …

Pamela Sullivan Takes Office as President of UCA Board of Directors

Pamela Sullivan, MD, MBA, FACP, PT was officially introduced as the newly elected president of the Urgent Care Association’s Board of Directors during the 2017 Urgent Care Convention & Expo, held this week in National Harbor, MD. Sullivan takes over from Steve Sellars, MBA, who served as president for the 2016–2017 term. In accepting the position, she stressed the necessity to help patients understand “their evolving healthcare options, while innovating new business models and processes …

UCA Suggests Initiatives for Urgent Care Awareness Month in May

Having declared May to be Urgent Care Awareness Month, the Urgent Care Association has some ideas you can implement to highlight the value your urgent care center brings to the community. Benchmark Urgent & Family Care in Austin, TX, for one, is inviting its neighbors to come in for free blood pressure and blood sugar checks—a low-cost assessment for the operator that could have a high return once patients who’ve never visited before see the …

UCA Webinar: Protect Your Patients—and Your Business—from Data Breaches

As we told you here, a study by Accenture found that a quarter of all healthcare consumers have fallen prey to data breaches—with half of them going on to become victims of medical identity theft. While hospitals were the most common source, other settings (including urgent care) were not immune. The Urgent Care Association (UCA) will offer tips to help you avoid such dangers in a live webinar, The Changing Landscape of Cyber Security, Thursday, …

My Patient Wants to Ruin My Reputation—Now How Do I Fix It?

Urgent message: When a patient says, ‘I had a bad experience,’ you should hear, ‘I know how you can improve your service.’ Adopt that mindset and you’ll start to welcome even negative feedback—and learn to use it to your advantage. Did you know there are some urgent care centers who live to get patient complaints? Before we delve into why you should adopt a similar mindset, let’s look at why an urgent care exists. In …

UCA Asks Price to Delay New EHR Requirements

The Urgent Care Association (UCA) has petitioned Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, MD to delay implementation of Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program, as well as “Stage 3-like” measures in the MIPS program, indefinitely. UCA joined with 15 other organizations in crafting a letter that also requested that eligible clinicians not be required to move to EHR technology certified to the 2015 edition. Release of proposed requirements for MIPS and APMs …

More Insurers Are Requiring Urgent Care Center Accreditation

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York are the latest insurers to require that urgent care centers become accredited before contracting, or as a requirement to maintain in-network status. As noted in a recent posting by Becker’s Hospital Review, such policies highlight growing demand for healthcare providers in all settings to demonstrate both value and quality care—both of which have long been touted as attributes of well-run …

UCA Webinar: ‘Pay Me Now’ and ‘Pay Me Later’ Can Be Good for You and Patients

Membership-based payment models might offer the best of both worlds for urgent care operators and patients. The way Valley Immediate Care in southern Oregon structured its version, patients paying a small monthly fee get discounts—50%—on most services needed at the time of a visit. My Urgent Care 365 has enticed new patients to visit the clinic, helping to increase revenue in the process. Valley Immediate Care CEO Brent Kell will share some insights into how …