Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

‘Location, Location, Location’ May Be a Higher Priority for Patients Than You Think

Urgent care providers and operators are primarily (and appropriately) concerned with the quality of the care they provide. Having gravitated to urgent care, it’s likely they also care deeply about efficiency and cost. One factor that may draw (or dissuade) patients could be hovering under the radar, however. According to an article published on REjournals.com, location is right up there with service and quality when patients are choosing among healthcare facilities to visit. In fact, …

Don’t Be Modest—Promote Your Providers as the Health Experts They Are in the Community

Every summer, it becomes evident that parents need reminders of seemingly basic information that can help their children stay safe and feel good throughout the summer. Whether it’s wearing bike helmets, getting checked for ticks, or avoiding sunburns, simple things can become big problems if they’re not top-of-mind. Communities served by University of Iowa Health Care recently got the lowdown on dealing with seasonal allergies from an online newsletter article written by an advanced nurse …

If the Medication ‘Stopped Working,’ Maybe the Patient Stopped Taking It. Guess Why

Urgent care providers don’t necessarily have the benefit of a rich history with the patients they treat. So, it may be puzzling when a patient with too-high blood pressure lists an antihypertensive among their medications. Is it the wrong medication, the wrong prescription, is the patient just not “on it?” Data from the National Center for Health Statistics suggest there’s another possible explanation you should ask the patient about: cost. The NCHS says in 2021 …

Could Informal ‘Interns’ Ease the Burden on Your Team While Raising Your Profile?

Mercer Health may have hit on the value of a practice that is pretty common in nonclinical businesses: summer interns. These are not “interns” in the usual medical setting sense, but college students looking for opportunities to learn about a work environment while still undergraduates. In Mercer’s case, they’re also kids who are planning to apply to medical school eventually and want to round out their resumes with practical experiences that indicate their commitment to …

Follow-Up: With Hospital Cutbacks Already Affecting the Public, It’s Time for UC to Step Up

As you may recall, JUCM News just informed you that dozens of hospitals are cutting back on services and hours, or ceasing to provide service altogether in certain departments—and suggested that such moves, necessary as they may be, would have a spillover effect that could ultimately affect urgent care. Now there’s an article in Time magazine indicating that this is already happening. It quotes a county health official who recently visited a local hospital as saying …

Speak Freely—There Are Ways to Get Your UC’s Name Out There Besides Advertising

Anybody who tuned in to WGIL radio at the right time recently learned everything they needed to know about OSF OnCall Urgent Care in Galesburg, IL. That’s because the facility’s manager was a guest on Galesburg Live, one of the station’s shows, talking about what makes urgent care a distinct environment. More to the point, she also spoke about OSF OnCall’s capabilities and of course their hours and location. She also shared a bit about …

Diabetes Will Grow for the Foreseeable Future. How Many Patients Will Be Headed to UC?

The number of people living with diabetes across the globe is expected to double in the coming decades, ultimately exceeding 1.3 billion by the year 2050. As reported by MedPage Today, data presented at the American Diabetes’ Society’s annual Scientific Sessions age-standardized global diabetes prevalence will jump from 6.1% to 9.8% thanks largely to unchecked increases in body mass index and social determinants of health. Limiting complications will require both better care and expanded access …

Dozens of Hospitals Are Curtailing Services. Will Patients Turn to Urgent Care Instead?

IU Health Blackford Hospital in Hartford City, IN is closing its emergency room and is going to stop offering inpatient services. In Philadelphia, Jefferson Health will cease acute care and emergency services. St. Mark’s Medical Center in La Grange, TX is cutting inpatient and orthopedic services. All told, according to a new report from Becker’s CFO Report, as of June 30 there are 42 U.S. hospital closing departments or otherwise ending services. While at least …

As Goes the Respiratory Season, so Goes Patient Volume—Which Is Especially Problematic for Retail

It’s self-explanatory that high incidence of seasonal respiratory conditions and infections equate to higher patient volumes and related revenue. Consequently, overdependence on those levels to maintain financial viability is perilous, to say the least. While this is a concern in urgent care, in the retail drugstore business where over-the-counter remedies account for a significant portion of the profit margin, it can be a make-or-break proposition. Just look at what Walgreens is going through right now. …

A Novel Pediatric Resuscitation Course Designed for the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Urgent care centers play a vital role as a gateway into the health system for many children with acute care needs. Some of these needs require identification by the urgent care team, who may then need to stabilize the patient and initiate transfer to optimize clinical outcomes. Nikhil B. Shah, MD INTRODUCTION Pediatric office emergencies can be challenging for urgent care staff to manage. These high-stakes events do not occur frequently enough to …

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