Practice Management
Urgent care centers have absorbed a national surge in gastrointestinal (GI) visits this summer, driven by a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak. Urgent Care Consultants’ analysis of 3.9 million private urgent care visits across roughly 3,000 centers using the Experity EMR found GI complaints rose from 22.2 to 34.9 per 1,000 visits between July 2025 and July 2026—an increase of 57%. In the peak week of July 13, 1 in 24 patients presented with acute GI illness, …
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A new analysis concludes that New Hampshire has the best healthcare system in the nation. The annual report produced by Wallet Hub evaluates states based on cost, access, and outcomes using 44 key indicators—including the number of urgent-care centers per capita that are certified by the Urgent Care Association. According to the report, New Hampshire has the most urgent care centers as well as the lowest average monthly health insurance premium ($469) and the second-lowest …
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U.S. health officials have extended air-quality alerts in locales across the Midwest this week related to smoke from ongoing wildfires originating in Canada. Extraordinarily high air quality index (AQI) readings were recorded in several areas in recent days, although the danger has started to ease thanks to rain and shifting wind. Covenant HealthCare MedExpress in Michigan closed its doors for several hours last week after wildfire smoke compromised air quality inside the building, according to …
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On July 1, Experity announced that it has acquired Exdion Healthcare, an AI-driven software company specializing in coding, billing, compliance, and revenue cycle management for healthcare organizations. According to Experity, the acquisition will allow for integration of AI capabilities across clinical, operational, and financial workflows to automate more of the revenue cycle and reduce administrative work for the urgent care practices that rely on Experity’s electronic medical records, practice management, patient engagement, revenue cycle, teleradiology, …
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HCA Healthcare recently announced the acquisition of 17 urgent care clinics across the Carolinas that were previously operated by Urgent Care Group. According to a social media post by Tyler Laymon, Vice President of Strategic Growth, the deal will bring the company’s total urgent care footprint to more than 390 centers across 12 states. The newly acquired locations include rooftops in Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, as well as several locations in …
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May is Urgent Care Awareness Month, and the Urgent Care Association (UCA) is offering a 2026 resource kit with free downloads, including sample social media posts with hashtags, text, and images that are sized appropriately and ready to post. The messaging includes thoughtful truisms about urgent care’s positive impact for patients, such as “Urgent Care is more than a convenience, it’s everyday healthcare,” and “Because healthcare should work around your life—not the other way around.” …
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JUCM Editor in Chief Lindsey E. Fish, MD, FCUCM, is now leading the College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM) and the Urgent Care College of Physicians (UCCOP) as the newly elected president. Members of the CUCM and UCCOP board of directors elected Fish during the 2026 Urgent Care Association (UCA) Conference in Chicago last week. CUCM and UCCOP, as affiliates of UCA, drive timely advances in clinical care, education, research, collaboration, and advocacy for urgent …
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Emergency department (ED) visits for tick bites are surging nationwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of April 19, 2026, CDC recorded 85 per 100,000 ED visits were due to tick bites—more than double what is typically expected at this time of year. In Maryland, ExpressCare Urgent Care Centers are seeing an uptick in bites with 160 cases so far that were ultimately treated for Lyme disease, according …
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As markets evolve, urgent care operators often look for unique opportunities to add services that complement care or fill gaps where they exist. In Marquette, Michigan, after a Planned Parenthood clinic shut down, an urgent care operated by a physician entrepreneur has now started offering medication abortion services, according to a report from NPR and KFF Health News. Services are provided by emergency medicine physicians, and 1 of the physicians previously worked at Planned Parenthood. …
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AFC Urgent Care has announced a new partnership with the nonprofit Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, California, for existing AFC clinic locations in Valencia and Canyon Country, according to a press release. With a coordinated model, the urgent care centers can refer patients to the hospital’s care sites for follow-up, specialty visits, or higher levels of care as appropriate. Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital also operates its own branded urgent care center, located on …
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