urgent care

[sauce]

I have a couple quick questions in regards to urgent care.

A couple of other np and one of the surgeons I know are looking to open an urgent care somewhere in the locality.

I am just wondering if anybody here has had an experience working in one of these settings and would like some feedback on what type of stuff you usually see. Yeah i know I can Google and get results but Id like some actual feedback from nps on how these clinics function. I am sure somebody here will tell me I'm stupid for trying to open one without working in one first, but a few of the other nps have worked in them, so we would be fine in that matter. And the stuff I see in the hospital is probably going to be worse than anything seen in urgent care, (minus the cases that present that obviously need ER level care). Thank you all for any responses you may provide.

What type of ailments do you tend to see?

What payer percentages?

Age of clients on average?

Patients per hour?

Types of imaging and labs available on sight?

What all you send to ER vs treat in house?

Provider mix?

Location type?

Types of procedures?

Is anybody a partner in one of these?

What EMR system you use?

how you collect payments?

Again, I will thank everybody ahead of time for responding to this. Feel free not to respond but any information would greatly be appreciated.

[racarlton85]

Many of the issues seen in Urgent Care are " minor emergencies" they are problems that can be corrected or investigated and refered to higher level care, some primary care issues but we don't do routine follow up or Rx refills. I have been satisfied working in this enviroment even though I am the only provider in the clinic. Procedure wise it's pretty much suturing, abscess i&d, toe nail removal to name a few. We see strep throat, influenza, allergic rhinitis and URIs a lot. This winter I was seeing 50 to 60 patients a day, now it's more like 30 to 40 a day. Ages really vary some days seem like more kids than anything I really like the variety. The practice is located in a small town outside a large city. We use practice velocity as our EMR. Labs available UA, rapid strep, flu, RSV, mono and h pylori. Blood labs and cultures are sent off. We collect payment up front or send a bill, we take m&m, bcbs, and other insurances, we charge $90 as flat rate and then if X-ray or labs is $125.

[lflinton]

I work in this setting as well and my experience is very similar. We have a lab next door as we are owned by a larger hospital. Only testing we do in our office are U/A, flu and strep but I wish we carried momospot, and hcg. If you have experience in family practice or ED then I think you wouldn't have any problem. The fast pace isn't for everyone. We usually see about 40 patients a day in 12 hours but they seem to come in small herds instead of a steady pace at a family practice. We may wait 45 minutes with no patients them in a matter of ten minutes have 5-6 in the waiting room and feel rushed. At least 50% are probably kids and then a good bit of fairly healthy people with minor illness. Procedures we do include suturing, I&Ds, foreign body removal from eyes, irrigate cerumen impacts on and things along those lines. I don't see myself leaving this job if I can help it!

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

I have a job interview on Wednesday for an urgent care soon to be opened by my current employer. I am excited about it. Wish me luck!