Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Perfecting the Consumer Financial Experience in Your Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: Changes to insurance plan design are resulting in increased financial exposure for patients, with urgent care providers scrambling to adapt to the associated rise in patient consumerism. It therefore behooves the urgent care provider to evolve their financial systems and policies such that they align with emerging point-of-sale best practices in order to meet patient expectations, enhance the revenue cycle, and cultivate patient loyalty. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer …

Does Your Website Show Patients How Much Financial Flexibility You Offer?

This month’s Practice Management feature article, Perfecting the Consumer Financial Experience in Your Urgent Care Center, reveals that with increasing flexibility in accessing healthcare, patients also want more flexibility when it comes to paying their bill. Their insurance status comes into play, as do methods of payment. It’s been suggested that such details may even play a part in choosing where they go when they need to see a provider. As such, it could be …

What is the Liability for an Urgent Care Slandering a Competitor on Social Media?

Urgent message: While competition for patients among urgent care operators can be intense, speaking negatively of a competitor online can lead to unwanted liability. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Competition between businesses can be intense. In some instances, comparisons between one company and another can lead to disparaging and inaccurate claims. This can result in unneeded liability for an urgent care owner. Here, we examine how the law of defamation in social media applies to …

End Users and Consolidators: The Next Possible Wave of Transactions in Urgent Care

Urgent message: The idea of a “typical” urgent care operation buyer is evolving along with the industry. While private equity has been an essential player in market growth, healthcare organizations with longer-term vision are now more commonly involved in acquisitions. Corey Palasota, CFA and Emily Schmidt, CFA It’s no secret private equity (PE) has a played a paramount role in the design, development, and growth of the urgent care industry. Collectively, these firms have invested …

UnitedHealthcare Discontinuing S9083 and S9088 in Multiple States and Medicare Telehealth Policies

Beginning April 1, 2019 UnitedHealthcare will revise their policies to discontinue reimbursement for HCPCS code S9083, “Global fee urgent care centers” in some states (see Table 1). The change affects UnitedHealthcare commercial plans, United Healthcare Oxford, and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan policies. Additionally, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan will no longer reimburse HCPCS code S9088, “Services provided in an urgent care center.” Providers should report the Evaluation and Management (E/M), and/or procedure code(s) that specifically describes the services …

Proof: Availability of Urgent Care Lowers ED Traffic—and Could Save Up to $1 Billion

It has always seemed self-evident that urgent care centers, offering a lower-cost and usually faster experience that is also on par clinically for nonemergent complaints, should help draw patients away from overcrowded emergency rooms. Just as obviously, that would mean more efficient use of the ED for patients who truly need to be there, and less of a financial burden on the healthcare system. One problem has been a lack of conclusive data to back …

When the ‘Inner Entrepreneur’ Needs to Step Aside

Urgent message: Being an aggressive founder who is willing to take risks is invaluable when it comes to starting and growing a business. However, after that business becomes established, it’s essential to transition into a new role as a leader so those same traits that helped start the business don’t also ruin it. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care Leaving behind the relative safety of working as a …

Can Urgent Care and Advanced Practice Providers Fill the Void as PCP Numbers Dwindle?

The much-discussed shortage in primary care physicians isn’t going to get any better over the coming decades. In fact, it’s probably going to get a lot worse—and urgent care is likely to play a significant role in mitigating the risk for the U.S. population, according to a new report from UnitedHealthGroup.1 The problem isn’t that fewer physicians are committing to primary care as a career choice; their ranks are actually expected to grow by 6% …

Navigating the Credentialing Process to Maximize Revenue and Minimize Denials

What is the best way to get my practitioners credentialed with various insurance companies and networks? It is frustrating to try and navigate this convoluted process. I am asked by each insurance company to complete a mound of paperwork and collect a stack of supporting documents for each practitioner. Then I wait months for approval notifications and effective dates. As a result, we end up losing some patients because they want to be treated at …

The Finer Points of Video Surveillance in an Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: The increasing use of video surveillance in urgent care requires an awareness of the risks and restrictions of such systems used for patient and employee safety. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Security is one of the most significant concerns in the operation of an urgent care facility. In this instance, it’s not …

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