Practice Management
Over the past year, I’ve written about telling our story, strengthening our voice, proving our value, and, most recently, Urgent Care’s evolution from a convenient alternative to an essential part of everyday healthcare. As I look at where we stand today, I believe we’re entering another important chapter. Healthcare is changing rapidly, and nearly every trend points in the same direction. Primary care physicians are retiring faster than they can be replaced. New physicians aren’t …
Read More
With great excitement—and in full disclosure—I am writing this as the newly elected President of the College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM) and Urgent Care College of Physicians (UCCOP). It is truly a pleasure to have been elected during the most recent Urgent Care Conference this past April in Chicago, and I look forward to leading these organizations for the next 2 years. Now I am calling all urgent care clinicians—nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants/associates …
Read More
As we move into June, I’ve been reflecting on the momentum we’ve built and what we do with it next. Our Convention in Chicago brought our field together in a powerful way. The conversations were thoughtful, practical, and forward-looking. We saw alignment forming around some of the most important issues we face: advocacy, workforce, reimbursement, and the continued evolution of our care model. Since then, that momentum has continued. Our work in Washington is advancing. …
Read More
May is a time to reflect, reset, and carry forward the momentum we’ve built over the first part of the year. Coming out of our 2026 Urgent Care Convention in Chicago, that momentum feels real and shared by all Urgent Care stakeholders. Over the past several months, we’ve talked about advocacy, about proving our value, and about the importance of showing up for one another as an industry. The Convention brought all of that into …
Read More
By Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc — President of Urgent Care Consultants; Senior Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine The 2026 Urgent Care Association Convention convened in Chicago this April under the theme “Amplify” — and across roughly fifty clinical and practice management sessions, that word kept landing on the same point: amplify the clinician, don’t replace them. Artificial intelligence, the tonal undercurrent of nearly every track, was framed less as an autonomous …
Read More
The Urgent Care Association (UCA) continues to seek differentiation for urgent care in the place of service (POS) definitions used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to construct payment schedules, which are updated yearly. In the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, UCA’s advocacy efforts were noted in the Federal Register document with a statement indicating comments offered about the POS for urgent care will be taken into consideration by CMS for possible …
Read More
Over the last few months, I’ve had the privilege of spending time with Lou Ellen Horwitz, my predecessor and now past CEO of the Urgent Care Association (UCA), as part of my onboarding. She’s been generous with her knowledge and perspective, helping me understand the many administrative details that keep UCA and our affiliates running smoothly. That investment of time has been invaluable, and I’m grateful for her continued support during this transition. At the …
Read More
Since the announcement in early 2024 anticipating the retirement of CEO Lou Ellen Horwitz, the Urgent Care Association (UCA) and its board of directors have engaged in a national candidate search and succession planning to lead the association going forward. This week, UCA named Steve Sellars as its new CEO. Well known by industry stakeholders, Sellars brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in urgent care to the table. He previously served as CEO …
Read More
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 …
Read More
The Urgent Care Association (UCA) recently launched its new map-based career platform for prospective candidates and urgent care employers. UCA’s Urgent Care Compass features the full slate of 15,000 urgent care centers across the United States, enabling career hunters to apply to the roles that attract them the most in the places they prefer to work. What’s different about the new platform is the intuitive mapping feature that offers visual suggestions for candidates to find …
Read More