Practice Management
Urgent message: Social media strengthens friendships through the sharing of life experiences and common interests, but is it really a good idea for providers or administrators in an urgent care practice to become quite so personal with employees (and vice-versa)? Do you want to be my friend? For children, this is a simple question. Kids are able to form friendships over simple, common bonds, like a shared love of the playground slide or an animated …
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Urgent message: In increasingly competitive labor markets, ongoing success requires keeping your best people happy. A “stay interview” is one mechanism that can be used to identify at-risk employees and learn what you can do to keep them from leaving. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. The recent Gallup State of the American Workplace 2017 Report …
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Urgent message: Convenient, quality, same-day care is one of the hallmarks of the urgent care setting. Many operators have moved to offer preregistration to speed visits along, but the question of whether an online appointment system would be effective in further improving efficiency in visits has not been studied previously. Introduction The aim of our study was to evaluate how the implementation of an online appointment scheduling system would affect wait times and throughput in …
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Urgent message: Traditional marketing and advertising only goes so far in building an urgent care practice. That’s why developing personal relationships with patients, staff, and other stakeholders is key to differentiating your practice, driving patient loyalty that results in repeat visits, and spurring positive word-of-mouth in your community. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine Whoever said …
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Urgent message: After an urgent care center spends thousands of dollars on marketing and advertising to raise awareness, it should be fully prepared to “welcome” patients whose first interaction with the practice is often by telephone. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. As a volume-driven practice model, urgent care must utilize a number of expensive marketing …
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Urgent message: Medications can heal, but they can also be deadly. That’s why protocols and controls, supported by rigorous and frequent documentation, are needed to reduce the possibility of medication errors in the urgent care setting. The most recent 10-year study on medical errors by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (sponsored by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) found that medication errors are by far the most common medical errors, harming …
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Urgent message: Recent high-profile sexual harassment allegations in Hollywood and Washington beg the question as to whether urgent care operators should proactively adopt a policy addressing sexual harassment. Alan Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. The #MeToo movement has been sweeping the nation as of late, impacting Hollywood and Washington, DC in immense ways. However, the push against …
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Urgent message: Prolonged sitting has been called the “new smoking” causing a host of diseases, making it a concern for both employees and employers. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Think about your typical workday for a moment: What does it look like? You sit at your desk for a significant period of time, of course. …
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Urgent message: While the launch of handheld technologies, email, messaging, and social media brought an immediate increase in productivity through the ability to access information instantly, over time these modern wonders have proven to become a distraction in the workplace. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Whether it’s email, social media, or internet searches, the modern workplace …
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Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care, LLC and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine Urgent message: Consumers drawn by the convenience, affordability, and service provided by urgent care centers continue to fuel industry-wide growth. Successful urgent care practices embrace a patient-centered delivery model that appropriately delegates tasks, focuses on respectful communication, and continually develops providers and staff. Profitability in urgent care is driven …
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