Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Bringing Out the Vote Can Help Bring in the Patients

Many local newspapers, magazines and radio stations hand out “people’s choice awards,” in which individuals in the community nominate and vote for their favorite businesses in various categories. The Rockford (Illinois) Register-Star holds an annual Best of the Rock River Valley promotion, for example, in which readers vote for their favorite hospital, chiropractor, dentist, family practice, and emergency room, among other categories. Supporters of businesses like the Dogwood Pet Resort are encouraged to spread the word …

Workplace Cell Phone Policies Should Be Reasonable—but Firm

In today’s “connected” world, few of us can go hours without checking our email, text messages, and social media posts. The same is true for urgent care center providers and staff. However, when patients see employees chatting or texting on their cell phones, they can get the impression that the focus is on the employee’s personal concerns and not patient care. For an employer, this behavior represents lost on the clock productivity, with the opportunity …

The Benefits of Near-Site vs Onsite Employee Clinics

There has been a push by some large, single-campus employers in recent years to develop onsite clinics for occupational medicine and health/wellness (including urgent and primary care). The typical model has employers paying all costs associated with the clinic, as well as a set fee to the management company. In an industrial setting where an RN can provide first aid for workplace injuries and track compliance towards OSHA regulations, the model can be justified. But in office settings …

Checklists Are as Essential in the Office as in the Cockpit

As an FAA-licensed commercial multi-engine instrument pilot, I have been well versed in the importance of checklists. When lives are at stake, a pilot cannot afford to overlook details pertaining to the configuration and operation of the airplane. For example, failing to assure the landing gear is fully down or that flaps are set properly upon approach can be deadly. Checklists help assure that pilots, no matter how experienced, don’t overlook anything. Likewise, checklists can …

Meet the New Neighbors to Help Meet Your Bottom Line

The United States is a transient society, with approximately 12% of Americans changing residences each year. The rates are much higher for those living in apartments (24%) vs owner-occupied homes (5%) and for young people under age 34 (34%) than those more established in their homes, families, and careers. Data also indicate a continued out-migration from dense urban areas to the suburbs and exurbs and from the “rust belt” to the “sunbelt.” When a family …

Clinica Mi Pueblo—Shedding Light on Urgent Care Solutions for America’s Uninsured Latino Population

URGENT MESSAGE: America’s undocumented immigrant population—those who are ineligible for Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurance via a state or federal exchange—are increasingly served by storefront “bodega clinics” that offer a range of services on a walk-in, cash-pay basis. While these “clinicas” provide much-needed access to the communities they serve, there are also concerns about the quality and oversight of their operations. Nonetheless, they could also teach many urgent care centers a thing or two about …

Patients Can’t Wait? Try to Keep Them ‘in the Family’

If patients walk out the door because the wait in your clinic is too long, that doesn’t have to signal lost business. You can still capture the revenue that would have been generated on the spot and maintain good customer service by encouraging them to visit another of your company’s locations. Take Intermountain Healthcare (IHC), which operates 31 InstaCare/KidsCare centers across Utah. Within the Salt Lake Valley, these urgent care locations are typically no more …

Make Patients Feel Welcome, and They May Make You Successful

If there’s truth to the cliché that “first impressions are everything,” then as a retail and service business, urgent care should put its best foot forward whenever patients enter the center, providing a greeting not dissimilar to what shoppers expect when entering a retail store. In recent weeks I’ve visited three urgent care centers and upon crossing the entry threshold, experienced three completely different “welcomes.” In the first center, I was greeted by multiple signs pointing …

Open for Business?

“Appearances matter” is a commonly heard phrase, but sometimes appearances can either encourage new patients to come in or literally stop patients at the door. It’s not enough that you’re open 12 hours per day. The equally important question is, does your urgent care center look open? I’ve frequently seen urgent care centers which—during operating hours—have their exterior signage turned off, no “open” sign displayed, and their window blinds closed, giving the appearance of being …

Window Decals Can Help Tell Your Story and Sell Your Services

If permitted in your municipality, window decals can enhance the appearance of your center, make your brand visible at eye-level to pedestrians on a city street (important if your signage is near the top of your building), and educate the community as to your various services. For example, there’s an OPTUM Urgent Care location in Plano, TX in the out-lot of a high-traffic SuperTarget store that uses its window decals to market a wide array …

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