Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Artificial Intelligence With a Heart: How Front Desk Automation Is Rehumanizing Urgent Care

Saji Rajasekharan Urgent care is no longer the healthcare industry’s understudy or stopgap solution—it’s become a primary point of access for millions. According to Urgent Care Association, more than 200 million visits are made to urgent care centers annually in the United States, reflecting patients’ growing demand for fast, reliable, and accessible care.[1] Patient expectations mirror those of retail: seamless digital check-ins, price transparency, and instant answers. Meeting these demands isn’t a value-add—it’s a strategic …

AI: Closing the Gap in Point-of-Care Ultrasound Adoption in Urgent Care

Tatiana Havryliuk, MD Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become a cornerstone of emergency medicine, yet its uptake in urgent care has been slow. Despite the emergence of affordable handheld ultrasound devices, many urgent care clinics have yet to integrate POCUS into routine practice. The common barriers to adoption include limited provider competence, the cost of devices, archiving solutions, and training, as well as a lack of administrative resources to support a high-quality POCUS program. The growing …

Saying Hello

It’s an incredible honor to be writing this column as the new CEO of the Urgent Care Association (UCA). I’ve long admired the work of this organization, and over the past several years, I’ve had the privilege of engaging with many of you as a colleague, advocate, and fellow believer in the value Urgent Care brings to healthcare. Stepping into this role feels less like a new beginning and more like a full-circle moment—one that …

Mental Health Urgent Care: Bridging the Gap in Crisis Care

Urgent Message: Meridian Health’s Mental Health Urgent Care service addresses the gap between outpatient therapy and hospitalization. As a way to improve access in communities, this model also provides cost savings and convenience for clients. Katie Nolin, MSc, LMFT, LCADC In 2024, Meridian Health launched its Mental Health Urgent Care service to address a critical gap in mental healthcare: the space between outpatient therapy and hospitalization. Since the program’s inception, we’ve served 39 clients, primarily …

Northeast Leads in Lyme-Related Diagnoses in Urgent Care

In the United States, 8 common species of ticks exist in different geographies that present risk of transmitting more than 10 different types of diseases. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common ticks associated with human disease transmission in the United States are the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis, or D. similis), also known as a “wood tick,” and the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), commonly referred to as …

Private Equity Investment In Urgent Care, By Number Of Centers, 2025

Fifteen years after the initial private equity platform investments in NextCare, FastMed, and MD Now, the number of urgent care rooftops backed by private equity has grown to 18% of the nation’s 14,423 urgent care centers, as of May 12, 2025. The total number of urgent care rooftops with private equity investment grew by 11% from 2,359 last reported by JUCM in April 2024 to today’s 2,622. Much of this growth has occurred organically and …

Credentialing: The Gatekeeper of Access and Reimbursement

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC In the healthcare ecosystem, credentialing is more than a bureaucratic hurdle—it’s the linchpin of successful revenue cycle management. For urgent care centers, credentialing determines whether providers can be reimbursed for the care they deliver to insured patients and whether they can participate in insurer networks. Credentialing is the formal process by which payers—commercial insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid—verify the qualifications, training, licensure, and work history of care providers. …

Who’s on First?

Urgent Care people would rather drive change than reactively manage its aftereffects. The same is true of all of us who lead the Urgent Care Association (UCA), College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM), Urgent Care College of Physicians (UCCOP), Urgent Care Foundation (UCF), Commission on Ambulatory and Urgent Care Quality (CAUCQ), and our regional chapters. To drive change, you must evolve fast enough to stay ahead, but evolving is usually a messy business. That’s been …

2025 Urgent Care’s Top 100 – By Number of Locations

The following table summarizes the 100 largest urgent care operators by number of locations as of April 1, 2025, based on data provided by National Urgent Care Realty and Urgent Care Consultants. Because of the significant number of private operators that also operate facilities with hospital partners, the list delineates health-system-affiliated locations. Duplication is avoided by placing joint venture centers under the operating partner. Data is reported by the parent entity as opposed to regional …

Navigating Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making: A Critical Guide for Urgent Care

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Urgent care operators face increasing challenges from payer reviews—a situation exacerbated by ongoing confusion around coding guidelines and proper documentation of medical decision-making (MDM). As more urgent care providers grapple with administrative burdens and financial pressures, understanding how to document and code accurately has never been more important. The Rise of Payer Reviews Pre-payment reviews have become commonplace, initiated when a provider’s billing patterns—such as a higher frequency …

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