Marketplace

Most urgent care centers across the U.S. have taken a beating since social distancing recommendations and lockdown orders took hold. Patient visits fell sharply as patients who would typically come in for relatively minor complaints decided leaving home wasn’t worth the perceived risk. Finally, as parts of the country start to ease restrictions, data tracked by Experity show the industry is bouncing back strongly. Perhaps the most encouraging statistic is the difference in 7-day average …

The U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services chose a handful of chain drugstores, and even grocery stores, to participate in community-based COVID-19 testing programs. No urgent care businesses. Mainstream media reports have carried misleading headlines suggesting that urgent care is “the last place you want to be right now” (one actually said that verbatim). That wrongheaded thinking is contributing to a sharp downturn in patient visits in some locations, unfortunately. The presumption is that …

As large, national retail chains announce they’re ready to test anyone concerned they could have been exposed to COVID-19, a glaring question arises: Why is there no mention of urgent care? One reason is that drive-up testing centers, often staged in the store’s parking lot, are supported by the federal government and state health departments and offer testing at no cost to the customer. Lacking that funding, an urgent care operator would be hard pressed …

It seems paradoxical at first thought, but one of the unforeseen consequences of the COVID-19 crisis is that some healthcare providers—certainly high on the list of “essential workers”—may see their jobs adversely affected by the pandemic. As noted in a post on Inside Sources, emergency rooms are emptying out as hospitals reroute patients presenting with symptoms or even concerns related to the virus to other areas of the hospital. Many other patients are opting not …

The “normal” way of doing things is no longer possible for urgent care operators during the COVID-19 crisis. Many around the country are looking at ways they can continue to serve their communities and keep their workers engaged while others are opting to close or consolidate locations. Prevea Health in the Green Bay, WI area, for example, is letting the community know that one of its locations is now dedicated exclusively to patients with upper …

Hospitals in some U.S. cities are getting slammed with COVID-19 patients, leaving some patients to consider what their best option might be when they need immediate care. Many know urgent care is the best bet. Before the term COVID-19 even existed, however, operators of freestanding emergency rooms touted their own ability to see patients with a broad array of injuries and illnesses faster than would be likely in conventional emergency rooms. It’s a claim that …

More U.S. insurance companies, not satisfied to merely decide what care and treatments they’ll cover, and to what degree they’ll compensate clinicians, are opting to establish their own healthcare facilities in an effort to control both delivery and payment for healthcare, according to an article published recently in The Wall Street Journal. It cites UnitedHealth Group as a prime example. Through its Optum unit, UHG has been buying up practices—including urgent care centers, individual primary …

Mobile, digital communication platforms and urgent care are a natural fit. Someone who wants to see a healthcare provider today but doesn’t need to go to the emergency room is likely to whip out their cell phone and Google “urgent care near me” or something to that effect, expecting to get multiple, valid options to choose from. Sometimes, though, what they get is a screen full of misinformation and a healthy dose of frustration. ABC15 …

Already one of the largest U.S. companies to offer both urgent care and occupational medicine services, Concentra is continuing a slow but consistent practice of buying small local and regional urgent care and occ med networks. The latest acquisition is southern Colorado’s EmergiCare, which operates four urgent care locations in Colorado Springs and Pueblo.  Concentra already operates 21 clinics in the region. Over the past 2 years, Concentra has acquired 12 other occupational medicine providers, …

You don’t hear much about urgent care–emergency room “hybrid” locations—unless you happen to be in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Albuquerque, or Indianapolis market, where they’re starting to become more common. Like urgent care, the UCC/ED combo locations (wherein an urgent care center and a freestanding ED are “co-located” on the same property) have gotten the attention of real estate professionals who recognize a perfect pairing between businesses looking for a lease and high-traffic shopping centers. Healthcare …