Practice Management
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 136 million people end up in an emergency room every year in the United States. Of those, 2.1 million are admitted to a critical care unit. Many of the rest could be treated just as well—and much more conveniently and less expensively—in a full-service urgent care center. Consider that the following are among the most common reasons for visits to the ED: Skin infections Cuts …
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A new survey of hospital construction projects points to the ongoing growth of urgent care as one driver of a construction boom within the healthcare industry. In fact, urgent care, outpatient facilities, and medical specialty complexes are the key contributors to significant increases in new construction. Health Facilities Management’s 2016 Hospital Construction Survey indicated the boom is on track to continue, too; 35% of respondents said they expect to have a medical office project in …
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The Urgent Care Association (UCA) sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in favor of lowering the copay patients would be responsible for when visiting an urgent care visit, effective in 2018. The changes would affect the cost-sharing structure for “standardized options” (ie, Simple Choice plans) that plan issuers offer in the individual insurance marketplace. Standardized options are intended to simplify the consumer plan selection process; each has a single …
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Uber drivers may be more inclined to drive themselves and their families to GoHealth Urgent Care Locations in the San Francisco area, thanks to incentives GoHealth parent Dignity Health is offering. The company is offering personalized and tech-enabled care to Uber drivers and their families at urgent-care clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area. They can also schedule appointments through an exclusive online and mobile platform and access a health education and wellness program that, …
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Boston Medical Center has launched a new concept in both urgent care and the fight against opioid abuse by opening an opioid urgent care center that aims to give patients faster access to substance abuse treatment. Faster Paths to Treatment will be operated in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which provided a 4-year, $2.9 million grant, and the Boston Public Health Commission. It will offer inpatient and outpatient services to help individuals …
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A clinic in Tucson, AZ is trying to take the convenience factor of urgent care to the next level by offering patients access to specialists on site. Urgent Specialists is the first in the state to have board-certified specialists in ophthalmology, orthopedics, and otolaryngology on staff—removing the need to immediately refer patients whose symptoms may be a bit more complicated than is typically seen in the urgent care setting. As with all urgent care centers, …
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The Urgent Care Association (UCA) is partnering with George Washington University’s Antibiotic Resistance Action Center on an initiative to put the brakes on runaway antibiotic resistance. The goal of the 3-year plan is to develop and implement evidence-based practices aimed at preserving the effectiveness of the antibiotics we have available today, namely by promoting responsible use of antibiotics. The fact that urgent care centers see some 160 million patients annually make it the perfect setting …
Read MoreThe Urgent Care Association (UCA) has officially filed comments with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), supporting a proposal to modify the “24/7” access requirements for providers who plan to bill Medicare for Chronic Care Management (CCM) codes. According to UCA, the new language will allow primary care providers “to more easily meet the CCM billing requirements if they contract with urgent care centers for their patient’s acute care needs, including evenings and …
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The path to ongoing growth in the urgent care industry is paved with the dollars it saves payers and patients, according to MedExpress Chief Medical Officer Thomas Pangburn, MD. While insurers would likely disagree, Pangburn says that includes the advent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”). Here’s some of the rationale he shared with the Pittsburgh Tribune Review : “With the Affordable Care Act and changes in the healthcare system, more and more …
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A public–private partnership that supports ambulance transport to urgent care centers when clinically appropriate just got new life in Reno, NV. It’s a cooperative effort between Reno’s Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority and Renown Health, launched in 2012 with the help of $9.8 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Healthcare Innovation Award program. That grant ran out, but Renown says it will continue to support the program because of the cost savings …
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