Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Insurer-Owned Clinics Are a Growing Threat to More Traditional Practices

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 …

Remember, Urgent Care is a Global Phenomenon—and JUCM is Part of It

We tend to look at the urgent care industry as an American phenomenon (which is understandable, given the total emersion necessary to keep pace with patient demands and maintaining compliance with a bevy of regulations issued by payers, state boards, HIPAA…). However, the same revolution that has been taking place in the U.S. for decades is ongoing in countries around the world. New Zealand, for example, has a very active urgent care marketplace and a …

Real News About Fake Urgent Care Centers; Do Prospective Patients Know the Difference?

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 …

How One Urgent Care Center Dealt with a COVID-19 Scare—and Was Commended by the Health Department

An abundance of caution and a strong effort to keep the community informed drew praise for Open Door Urgent Care from the Delaware County (Indiana) Health Department recently. When a patient presented with symptoms that could have indicated COVID-19 infection, management made the decision to close up shop while providers ran through the screening protocol recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To head off the rumor mill—and any potential for resultant panic—Open …

Myths and Misinformation Are Keeping Patients from Getting Flu Shots. Educate Them!

Millions of confirmed cases and thousands of deaths aren’t enough to convince a lot of Americans that many of their beliefs about influenza and vaccination are just plain wrong. So, more than half fail to get a flu shot and leave themselves and loved ones at increased risk. Clearly, the healthcare community in general has to do a better job of countermanding erroneous conceptions. New data released by the American Academy of Family Physicians may …

Update: Influenza Is Hitting Children Especially Hard this Season

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 92 children have died from influenza so far this season—the highest number of deaths for this point in the season in a decade. Ominously, the CDC also points out that a second wave of flu outbreaks has been gaining momentum over the past few weeks. Overall, flu has killed an estimated 14,000 people this season, out of roughly 26 million confirmed cases. …

Violence Against Healthcare Providers Is Getting Attention—Finally

Most people who have worked in urgent care for any length of time could share stories of patients who become unruly, belligerent, or downright violent. Sometimes it’s out of frustration over a situation, a reaction to pain, or under the influence of substances. A report on NBC New York recently focused the public’s attention on this problem as it pertains to emergency rooms. It quoted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealing that 47% …

Fears Over COVID-19 Are Driving More Patients to Get Flu Shots

As we’ve pointed out—and as has been emphasized in mainstream media reports in recent weeks—far more Americans are at risk for contracting influenza than the coronavirus. The same holds true for associated deaths, as well. At least 15 million people have been diagnosed with flu so far this season. Mortality projections from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention range from 14,000 to 36,000. Compare that with the fact that as of February 17 there …

Concentra Continues Gobbling Up Local and Regional Urgent Care Networks

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, …

Parents Are Moving Away from Pediatricians—Toward Urgent Care—When the Kids Are Sick

While acknowledging that traditional primary care settings, including pediatric practices, remain “the foundation of pediatric care,” a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics reveals that a growing number of parents in the U.S. are choosing urgent care and other acute care settings instead of their pediatrician’s office when their children are sick. After looking at more than 71 million pediatric primary care visits by commercially insured children between 2008 and 2016, the researchers reported that …

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