Practice Management
Urgent message: Despite the current seasonal, postpandemic lull in volume, sophisticated investors are focused on the long-term growth prospects of urgent care in terms of new rooftops, new patient populations, new services, and new payers…among others. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Even for those who are “tenured” in the urgent care industry—the last 24 months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a rough ride. If 100% were baseline volume, the average urgent care saw volume …
Read MoreSpoiler Alert: 2020 Saw a NewTrend in Urgent Care Data Claims Spoiler Alert: 2020 Saw a NewTrend in Urgent Care Data Claims The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare systems around the world has been unprecedented, at least in our lifetimes. The cost in lives and dollars, pounds, euros, yuan, is incalculable at this point, as the pandemic continues. What we can get our arms around, however, is how visits to urgent care centers …
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Most urgent care providers loathe when a patient checks in with chest pain because, typically, they are presenting because they’re worried about a heart attack, and we’re worried we don’t have the tools to exclude this diagnosis. It’s no surprise that we’re met with consternation when we suggest they may have come to the wrong place for care. But is unavailability of troponin testing a worthy scapegoat? And is the practice of ED referral for …
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Urgent message: People are unlikely to trust their healthcare to a provider with a sullied reputation, so speaking ill of a provider can cost them in terms of patient revenue or future employment opportunities. Understanding the causes and defenses for defamation can help you protect your reputation and your business. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc We live in a nation where the First Amendment should protect “free speech,” particularly among public figures. Yet, Google “defamation …
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It won’t be news to you that patient visits dropped—precipitously at times—over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. And there’s no getting around the fact that business has suffered, though it’s also a plain fact that many patients are returning. What is probably less evident, but certainly interesting, is that between 2019 and 2020 urgent care centers saw less of a decline in utilization than emergency rooms and ambulatory surgery centers, as illustrated in the …
Read MoreWhen it comes to measuring your financial performance, metrics translate the actions of others into insight. They provide visibility into the efficacy of your overall billing process. But while they may shine a light on where you need to improve, they don’t tell you how to do it. For a better understanding of how well your clinic is optimizing the billing process, look at your everyday practices. Our revenue cycle management (RCM) experts compiled 10 …
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“Do you know what the first question anyone gets asked at these things nowadays?” asked a member at a recent industry event. I didn’t know the answer, and when I heard it, I was speechless. He said, “They ask you how many urgent cares you have.” Who are we becoming when this is our measurement of worthiness? When did size become the first thing that matters in our getting to know one another? Can we …
Read MoreIt’s been 14 months since the new evaluation and management guidelines took effect. Many providers struggled to modify their documentation after 25 years with the 1995 guidelines. Urgent care practices stepped up with training programs to get through the learning curve with some new concepts. This month I’ll address some of the common questions that we receive. Do I have to meet the level in all the elements to bill a code? No, the level …
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Urgent message: Many urgent care operators took full advantage of opportunities to serve their communities during the pandemic, accumulating cash in the process. While many question what comes next, there’s no better time to grow your own urgent care business. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is President of Experity Networks and is Senior Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and within …
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The January 2022 issue of JUCM led off with an editorial by Editor-in-Chief Joshua W. Russell, MD, MSc, FCUCM, FACEP about what he called “actually the epidemic that is decimating the healthcare workforce” and “a silent killer of healthcare careers.” He was referring to toxic positivity, or the practice of “encouraging” someone—in this case healthcare providers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic—to find and focus on the bright side rather than dwell on withering …
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