Practice Management
URGENT MESSAGE: Public attitudes on the use of marijuana have undergone a sea change over the last two decades, with laws regarding the use of marijuana for medical purposes and in limited cases the recreational use of the drug becoming more liberal. Legalized cannibis presents unique challenges that could impact urgent care and occupational medicine providers when it comes to delivery of patient care and human resources considerations. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice …
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URGENT MESSAGE: Job fairs can be an efficient and cost-effective method of finding suitable employees to fill open positions in urgent care centers. With diligent planning, a job fair can save valuable time by speeding up the interview process and can bring talented and qualified applicants right to your door. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Practice Velocity, LLC and Practice Management Editor of JUCM — The Journal of …
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URGENT MESSAGE: Although the Affordable Care Act has made some progress in reducing the number of Americans without any health insurance, many of the newly insured are still unable to afford routine healthcare due to plan designs that include high deductibles, copays and coinsurance. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association of America, …
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URGENT MESSAGE: Zoom+, which operates 28 walk-in clinics in the Pacific Northwest, has long been a technological innovator, launching web registration, scheduling, and telemedicine in its markets. In the past year, ZoomCare has evolved further to create Zoom+, integrating urgent care with insurance, primary care, wellness, specialists, and ancillary services. As Zoom+ refocuses the future of urgent care around the needs of its community, there is much that other urgent care operators can learn in …
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URGENT MESSAGE: American consumers have been conditioned to expect high levels of customer service in exchange for their hard-earned money, so when urgent care fails to deliver on patient expectations, the result can be devastating to a center’s reputation. Fortunately, negative experiences can be turned around by practical strategies for dealing with angry patients. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the Board …
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URGENT MESSAGE: As urgent care developers seek prime real estate for their medical centers, bank branches that have been vacated due to mergers may provide a high-traffic, high-visibility solution, although there are practical challenges with converting a former bank branch to an urgent care center. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association of America, …
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URGENT MESSAGE: During the gold rush of the mid-1800s, miners and bartenders enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship in which neither could survive the Wild West without the other. In the modern “gold rush” of U.S. healthcare spending, coordinators of population health and service/technology innovators are working together to improve outcomes and lower costs, propelling new business models—including urgent care. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, …
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URGENT MESSAGE: Urgent care’s value proposition is “access,” which includes walk-in availability whenever patients have a medical need. However, could using some minimum operating hours as a defining feature of “urgent care” unintentionally restrict access for tens of millions of Americans living in historically underserved communities with population density insufficient to support opening seven days per week and 3,000 hours per year? Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of …
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URGENT MESSAGE: Unlike most retail and service businesses in which customer transactions result in immediate cash in the register, the nature of insurance and government billing in urgent care creates accounts receivable, which can be a complicating factor when buying or selling an urgent care practice. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of JUCM—The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association of …
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URGENT MESSAGE: Over time, urgent care operators become desensitized by what they see and hear every day—a serious challenge to continual improvement and, therefore, success. In this second installment of her guest blog on “blinders,” Lou Ellen Horwitz describes how what is said in an urgent care center influences patient perceptions. She provides practical suggestions on coaching staff to be mindful of their words, volume, and audience when engaging in business and nonbusiness conversation. Lou …
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