Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

2025 Urgent Care’s Top 100 – By Number of Locations

The following table summarizes the 100 largest urgent care operators by number of locations as of April 1, 2025, based on data provided by National Urgent Care Realty and Urgent Care Consultants. Because of the significant number of private operators that also operate facilities with hospital partners, the list delineates health-system-affiliated locations. Duplication is avoided by placing joint venture centers under the operating partner. Data is reported by the parent entity as opposed to regional …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2025

Can Doctors Predict Patient Outcome from a First Impression? Take Home Point: In this systematic review, the first impressions of “sick versus not sick” and appropriate patient disposition had reasonable predictive value for patient outcomes but was not sufficiently accurate to supplant thorough clinical assessment. Citation: Treloar E, Abraham A, Smith E, et. al. Can first impressions predict patient outcomes? Acad Emerg Med. 2025 Mar;32(3):351-354. doi: 10.1111/acem.15053. Relevance: In busy environments such as urgent care …

33-Year-Old With Pleuritic Chest Pain

A 33-year-old female presents to urgent care with pleuritic chest pain that is gradual in onset over the preceding several days and worse when lying flat. She denies fever, cough, and shortness of breath. She is well appearing with normal vital signs. An ECG is obtained. View the ECG and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.

Navigating Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making: A Critical Guide for Urgent Care

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Urgent care operators face increasing challenges from payer reviews—a situation exacerbated by ongoing confusion around coding guidelines and proper documentation of medical decision-making (MDM). As more urgent care providers grapple with administrative burdens and financial pressures, understanding how to document and code accurately has never been more important. The Rise of Payer Reviews Pre-payment reviews have become commonplace, initiated when a provider’s billing patterns—such as a higher frequency …

Legal Considerations and Urgent Care Management of Acute Compartment Syndrome in the Upper Extremity

Urgent Message: Compartment syndrome is a limb-threatening emergency that can present with variable clinical signs and symptoms. When the diagnosis is missed or delayed, poor functional outcomes and subsequent malpractice claims are common. Prevention of negative outcomes relies on early detection and a low-threshold for emergency department referrals. Josie L. Bunstine, DO; Ariel Cohen, DO Key words: Compartment Syndrome, Medical Malpractice Questions for the Clinician at the Bedside Abstract Acute compartment syndrome is a limb-threatening …

Optimism

The annual Urgent Care Convention is always my prime time for taking the pulse of the field. I hope you were among those able to join us in Dallas last month! There’s just no substitute for in-person conversations and observations. What I expected to hear is not what I heard. There are a lot of reasons to be pessimistic right now; some of them are new and some are the same challenges we’ve been working …

Patient Credit Card on File Increases Payments by 20%

Just as hotels require a credit card to cover any “incidentals,” urgent care is increasingly pre-authorizing patient credit cards at the time of service to cover any patient balances after their insurance claims adjudicate. Patient balances are often attributed to deductibles, co-insurance, or eligibility issues that can be difficult to identify at registration. Charging a patient’s credit card when an explanation of benefits is received should, in theory, reduce accounts receivable days, write-offs, and collections …

Meningococcal Vaccine Leveraged To Prevent Gonorrhea in England and Wales

A vaccine to prevent gonorrhea will soon be introduced in England and Wales as part of a targeted public health initiative—the first of its kind globally, according to health officials. Described as a “landmark moment for sexual health,” the program aims to address the rising rates of gonorrhea with preventive measures. The vaccine, originally developed to protect against meningococcal B disease, will be offered starting in early August at sexual health clinics commissioned by local …

Debate Continues On Acuity and Coding Trends in Urgent Care

A new study suggests there has been a rise in higher acuity coding across certain outpatient services. Among urgent care centers, the proportion of visits coded at higher complexity levels (CPT 99204 and 99205) increased overall from 34.0% in 2018 to 40.6% in 2023, while visits coded at level 1 (CPT 99202) declined from 9.5% to 2.9% over the same period. The most significant increases in high-intensity coding were observed in cases involving “blood and …

Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Citation: Hunt E, Greger M, Shipley N. Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Urgent Care Med. 2025; 19(9): 21-23 Download the Article PDF: Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic Urgent Message: A quality improvement program demonstrated the successful integration of …

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