The Most Common Injuries Seen in the ED Could Be Managed in Urgent Care. Why Aren’t They?

You could probably guess what many of the most common injuries presenting to the emergency room are. Seeing just how big the numbers are might give you pause, however, especially when you consider how many urgent care centers could be managing those patients—and taking in the associated revenue while helping to improve overcrowding in the ED and lowering healthcare spending in the United States. According to a post by Patient Care Online, culled from data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, injuries associated with falls due to slippery, cluttered, or unstable surfaces account for approximately 5.6 million ED visits annually. Being struck by an object result in 1.6 million. Lacerations and piercings another 1.3 million. That’s the scope of the problem when patients don’t realize the level of service you’re able to provide. Unfortunately, judging from the ongoing threat of acuity degradation in urgent care, patients may not be the only ones to have trouble remembering just how expert UC providers are. To get a read on whether your UC operation is helping to solve or contributing to that problem, read How Urgent Care Can Address Its Degrading Scope of Practice in the JUCM archive.