Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Michigan Blues Start Pushing Telemedicine

Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Michigan and Blue Care Network have apparently seen the light when it comes to the benefits of telemedicine. They’re working with physician groups on creating new financial incentives to expand member utilization. Seventeen groups, in fact, have already submitted telemedicine plans that could reap additional payments. Others are strategizing the best way to incorporate or expand telehealth offerings. BCBS says urgent care will figure prominently in its own efforts. …

‘Space for Lease’ Could be a Good Sign for Urgent Care

Downturns in other industries (remember video stores?) have proven to be golden opportunities for urgent care, as landlords eager to find solid customers have come to appreciate the industry’s stability. Now it appears that 10% of retail space may be up for grabs in the next few years, according to data from CoStar Group, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of online retailers. A fondness for take-out food is also hurting middle-of-the-road restaurants. Healthcare is practically …

Competitive Edge: The Importance of Taking Accurate Vitals

Urgent message: Recording thorough and accurate vital signs supports the urgent care physician in asking the right questions of the patient’s history of present illness, guides the physician in the physical exam, and thus is essential in reaching an accurate diagnosis and devising an effective treatment plan. Imagine you are a medical assistant on duty in a busy urgent care center. A patient walks in, and you check him in. You ask his height and …

Could Telehealth Be the Key to Urgent Care Realizing ‘Triple Aim?’

Urgent care has continued to grow based on its attributes of improving patients’ care experience at a lower cost than the emergency room, and by contributing to healthier populations—a triad of goals referred to as “triple aim.” Maintaining that growth may depend on outpacing other settings’ ability to change with the times. Twenty years since its inception—coinciding with urgent care’s own growth trajectory—telehealth may prove to be an invaluable tool in accomplishing that. One operator …

More Locations + More Patients = $15 Billion Urgent Care Marketplace

The urgent care industry has gone from upstart to “an established segment of the U.S. healthcare industry,” according to a new report from Kalorama Information, which put the overall value of the market at $15 billion. Even better, Kalorama predicts it will continue to grow annually through at least 2021. Over that time, cold, flu, and sore throat will continue to be the primary complaints that drive patients to seek urgent care, followed by lacerations, …

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 …

New Data Show Same Diagnoses, Higher Costs at Freestanding EDs vs Urgent Care

Despite a growing stack of negative press clippings and legislative scrutiny, freestanding emergency rooms continue to take in patients off the street and charge them far more than they’d pay for the same services at urgent care centers. New data from four institutions in Texas reveal that mean out-of-pocket spending jumped 66% between 2012 and 2015 in the Lone Star State. Out-of-pocket costs grew by 38.5% at hospital-based EDs and by just 8.9% at urgent …

Urgent Care May Become Even More Important as Physician Shortage Approaches

By 2030, there will be a significant gap between the number of physicians who are practicing in the U.S. and the number needed to care for our aging population, according to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). At best, it would amount to a shortfall of 40,800 providers—at worst, 104,900, the association says. For primary care, the estimated shortage will be between 8,700 and 43,100 physicians by 2030. Emergency medicine, anesthesiology, …

The Top 10 Mistakes Hospitals Make in the Urgent Care Business

Introduction It should not be surprising that when hospital executives and personnel sit down to discuss issues and problems around population health, accountable care organization (ACO) integration, network development, cost containment, new product lines, hospital readmission rates, care coordination, and related topics they often arrive at hospital-centric and hospital-based solutions to solve them.1 As hospitals and hospital networks look to urgent care centers to address some of these issues through hospital/urgent care affiliations, joint ventures, …

Who Owns Patient Medical Records?

Urgent message: While historically there has been an understanding that patients own the information contained in their medical records, and that providers own the record itself, the current lack of a federal law governing the ownership of medical records poses a conundrum when those records are stored electronically. New challenges demand innovative solutions—often in the form of new technologies that make life easier. Certainly technology has advanced healthcare to improve and lengthen our lives. Yet, …

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