Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Urgent Care 2.0: Health Systems Taking the Retail Approach to the Next Level

Urgent message: Spurred by disruptive market entrants and burgeoning consumerism, health systems are increasingly adopting retail principles to better meet consumers’ shifting expectations. Thus, urgent care stakeholders, either as standalone operators or partners with a hospital/health system, must further expand upon their retail offerings in order to fend off increased competition. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of …

Urgent Care Drives Growth in Health Systems

Dissatisfied patients who have flocked to urgent care rather than more traditional care locations are forcing health systems and clinics to reevaluate how they offer care, according to a new report in Becker’s Hospital Review. “Regardless of the clinical enterprise’s desire to connect everyone with a long-term physician relationship, responsive health systems will recognize they cannot form relationships through experiences that leave individuals unsatisfied. These relationships are particularly important at the individual’s first point of …

WSJ: Hospitals Continue to ‘Follow the Patient’ to Urgent Care and Other Settings

As we’ve reported here, the evolving habits of patients who seek immediate, cost-efficient, quality care is forcing hospitals and health systems to reconsider their own approaches to patient engagement. Such is reconfirmed in a Wall Street Journal article that observes “as patients increasingly seek cheaper and more convenient care, some of the largest U.S. hospital operators are investing in surgery centers, emergency rooms, and urgent care clinics.” The article cites Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dignity Health, …

Data Are Clear: We Need More Urgent Care Centers!

We’ve all seen the data concerning the “graying” of the population and physician shortages (it’s not good), and within this industry intuited that urgent care will play an important role in providing care when and where it’s needed most. New data now show just how big an opportunity there is for urgent care operators. Looking at estimates of current volumes per urgent care center within the context of population density, demographics, and payer mix, Health …

Urgent Care Solutions for Health Systems to Improve Access

Urgent message: Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expands health insurance coverage to millions of previously uninsured, many of the newly insured grapple with lack of access to quality, on-demand care, which leads to increased emergency department use. Urgent care provides a solution for health systems to expand access, reduce the number of unnecessary emergency department visits, and realize the goal of integrated population health management. MICHAEL F. BOYLE, MD, MBA, FACEP Introduction …