Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

‘Relationship-Based Primary Care’ Experiment Closes Up Shop

UnitedHealth Group thought it was a great idea at the time: offer no-cost primary and behavioral care, in the hope that the company would bring in enough money through claims, while also building a loyal customer base. Detractors may say it was a nonstarter, or that the notion had merit but was poorly designed; some may even point the finger at the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). Either way, the company is shutting down …

Urgent Care–Primary Care Partnership Lauded

A pair of medical practices—one urgent care and one primary care—received a municipal business award for a cooperative venture to make care as accessible as possible for their surrounding communities. Immediate Care Walk-In and CentraState Healthcare System forged an affiliation in 2015 to open a combination primary/urgent care facility in East Windsor, NJ. For their efforts, they received the town’s 2016 Business Award for Community Enhancement, based on polling of residents who were asked to …

Jump in Flu Cases Increases Telemedicine Use

Carena, a virtual urgent care center in Seattle, has gained a healthy following among brick-and-mortar urgent care clinics around the country by “seeing” patients with fairly typical complaints like rashes and symptoms of bladder infections. The company reports that their lines are really jumping now that flu season is in full force. They, and other e-medicine providers, can’t offer flu shots, of course, but they can help patients who don’t have the flu avoid exposure …

Strong Referral Relationships Benefit Urgent Care and Partners

Helping patients manage chronic conditions typically falls to primary care providers or specialists. At the same time, those people are just as likely as other patients to walk into your urgent care center—if not more so. CityMD and Mount Sinai Health System in New York City have teamed up to formalize a referral system that is designed to benefit all parties concerned. Mount Sinai will encourage patients to visit CityMD clinics when they have a …

One Medical: Reimaging Primary Care Around the Consumer

Urgent message: Just as urgent care has changed consumer attitudes and behaviors related to on-demand healthcare, One Medical is reinventing the primary care practice by emphasizing high-tech engagement, on-demand convenience, quality provider face time, and price transparency. If the rise of urgent care were a television drama, then primary care might be one of the villains. Unable to get an appointment in a timely manner—in some markets waiting weeks or months—and having to miss work …

Urgent Care Continues to Boost the U.S. Construction Industry

A new survey of hospital construction projects points to the ongoing growth of urgent care as one driver of a construction boom within the healthcare industry. In fact, urgent care, outpatient facilities, and medical specialty complexes are the key contributors to significant increases in new construction. Health Facilities Management’s 2016 Hospital Construction Survey indicated the boom is on track to continue, too; 35% of respondents said they expect to have a medical office project in …

Emergency Room Traffic Continues to Grow Under ACA

An influx of newly insured patients is just one reason emergency room traffic continues to go up in the age of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”), according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lack of access to primary care providers in general is especially problematic among Medicaid patients; often, they find access to be untimely, at a median wait time of 2 weeks for an appointment—if a conveniently …

SSM Health Goes Deeper into Retail

Hybrid health provider SSM Health Medical Group, which does business in the urgent care, hospital, primary care, and retail arenas, has signed an agreement to take over operation of 27 retail clinics housed in Walgreens drugstores in the St. Louis area. When the transition is complete next fall, the locations will be renamed SSM Health Express Clinic at Walgreens. Until then, it will be business as usual for those walk-in locations. Walgreens and SSM Health …

Pilot Program Allows Tricare Members to Report Directly to Urgent Care

Military members and their families covered under Tricare Prime, Tricare Prime Remote, or Tricare Young Adult–Prime will be allowed two urgent care visits without a referral per year, thanks to a pilot program starting May 23. Right now, beneficiaries need a referral before going to urgent care. Delays in getting appointments with a primary care provider have been a common complaint among military families for years, putting pressure on the Department of Defense to reconsider …

Urgent Care Costs Less than the ED for Pediatric Medicaid Patients

Visits to urgent care resulted in lower costs and a lower rate of return visits compared with visits to the emergency room among younger Medicaid patients with low acuity symptoms, as reflected in a new study in published in Pediatrics. Researchers at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, MO and Children’s Hospital Association in Overland Park, KS looked at 5.9 million ED and urgent care visits by Medicaid-covered children between 2010 and 2012. …