Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Urgent Care Practice Varies More by Provider on Duty Than by Center, Payer, or Patient

Urgent Message: Urgent care operators may find practice variation in testing, imaging, referral, and coding among clinicians working in the same clinic. According to this data analysis, the reason for variation ultimately comes down to the decision making of the individual clinician rather than infrastructure, payer, or patient population. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Keywords: urgent care practice variation; provider variation; clinical practice patterns; diagnostic testing; referral patterns; evaluation and management coding; clinician performance Walk …

Commercial Reimbursement In Urgent Care

While examining 17,410,492 commercially insured visits in the Experity EMR from November 1, 2024, through October 31, 2025, we calculated zero-balance net revenue per visit (NRV) for urgent care by state. NRV represents total payments from both patients and insurers when the claim is closed, and it includes evaluation/management and ancillary codes. Data include commercial plans and third‑party managed Medicaid and Medicare but exclude self-pay, workers’ compensation, employer-paid services, motor vehicle accidents, and traditional Medicare …

Making a Business Case for Urgent Care Holiday Hours

URGENT MESSAGE: Whether an urgent care center should be open 365 days per year or close on major or minor holidays depends upon factors that influence profitability, such as patient demand, competitive positioning, staff availability, payer reimbursement, and the branding impact of after-hours accessibility. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, serves on the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association, and is Vice President …

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