Premium Essay

Urgent Care Economics

In:

Submitted By docvchulek
Words 1654
Pages 7
Economics of an Urgent Care Center in a Market of Emergency Departments

One of the contributors to the rising cost of Healthcare can be attributed to the over use of emergency departments (EDs) for non-emergency needs. In the greater Capitol/First/Beacon Hill area there are three major hospitals (Virginia Mason, Harborview, and Swedish) with emergency rooms and no urgent care centers with the exception of Group Health which is restricted to Group Health insurance members.
The question I asked myself is, “Why does Group Health have urgent care for their insurance plan members and the major hospitals in Seattle do not.”

Urgent vs. Emergency Care
A study by the CDC showed that approximately 70 % of emergency department visits can be treated in a typical primary care or urgent care setting and another study by National Center for Policy Analysis demonstrated that only 13% of patients that sought treatment in the emergency department were clinically appropriate. Reasons for non-emergency visits to the ED range from access issues to primary care providers (wait times, no primary care provider assigned, or no insurance) to a lack of knowledge that they could have been treated at an urgent care or primary care setting.

There are good reasons to visit the emergency department: * Trauma due to an accident or assault | * A wound that will not stop bleeding | * Shortness of breath | * Vomiting blood | * Chest pain | * Sudden loss of consciousness |

For true emergencies the market is very inelastic, patients will spend whatever it takes to receive treatment. They do not shop around to find the best price but typically visit the closest emergency department.

Urgent care centers provide a wide range of services from simple sports physicals and flu shots to fractures and minor lacerations that need sutures. Patients who typically visit

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Week 11 Assignment

...com/shop/week-11-assignment/ Scenario: A city-based community hospital is looking at adding an urgent care facility in a rural area. Urgent care is the delivery of ambulatory care in a facility dedicated to the delivery of unscheduled, walk-in care outside of a hospital emergency department. Development of the Rural Urgent Care (RUC) facility will facilitate access to care providers through extended service hours within closer geographic proximity to patients, families, and caregivers. RUC will act to alleviate demand for emergency department services by shifting lower acute patients to a less resource-intensive environment. This project is in response to the shift from volume- to value-based health care. Payers and purchasers are interested in improving economic efficiency by shifting utilization from emergency department to lower cost settings, such as RUC. Several competing hospitals have hired emergency department physicians, as part of their integration strategy to participate in accountable care organizations (ACO) contracts. The hospital needs to respond to the competitive situation by making a sound investment in the RUC facility that addresses both financial and economic situations. The facility will be staffed with physicians and will include a radiology suite, laboratory suite, and other health-related ventures to help the hospital grow. You must help the board develop a business plan for this urgent care unit. To prepare for this assignment: • Examine the provided scenario. • Refer...

Words: 390 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Busi 601individual Learning Project 1

...Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) is a health center that allows patient who might otherwise not receive the critical primary care that they may need. These types of facilities help to fill crucial access gaps, allowing patient to pay according to their income on a sliding fee scale. “Congress passed FQHC-enabling legislation as part of the Social Security Act in 1989 and the application process and requirements for federal qualifications are governed under the Public Health Service Act” (Hennessy, 2013). There are approximately 1,200 main health centers that deliver care with over 8,000 service sites all across the United States. An FQHC provides primary care services to patients within the rural areas and are located within schools across America. This special care is allowing children to receive the wellness care to help them stay and improve in school. In reflection of this type of facility, this assignment will be about Capital City Family Health Center. A FQHC center in the heart of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Taking care of the patients that they have and also providing services to the homeless throughout the metropolitan and surroundings. SWOT “SWOT has been used comprehensively to aid in understanding a variety of decisions and issues including: manufacturing, location decisions; penetration strategy, promotions and joint ventures; economic growth; entrepreneurship; performance and behavior, and strategic planning” (Helms, Moore, & Ahmadi, 2008). Strengths ...

Words: 1984 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Week 11 Assignment

...com/shop/week-11-assignment/ Scenario: A city-based community hospital is looking at adding an urgent care facility in a rural area. Urgent care is the delivery of ambulatory care in a facility dedicated to the delivery of unscheduled, walk-in care outside of a hospital emergency department. Development of the Rural Urgent Care (RUC) facility will facilitate access to care providers through extended service hours within closer geographic proximity to patients, families, and caregivers. RUC will act to alleviate demand for emergency department services by shifting lower acute patients to a less resource-intensive environment. This project is in response to the shift from volume- to value-based health care. Payers and purchasers are interested in improving economic efficiency by shifting utilization from emergency department to lower cost settings, such as RUC. Several competing hospitals have hired emergency department physicians, as part of their integration strategy to participate in accountable care organizations (ACO) contracts. The hospital needs to respond to the competitive situation by making a sound investment in the RUC facility that addresses both financial and economic situations. The facility will be staffed with physicians and will include a radiology suite, laboratory suite, and other health-related ventures to help the hospital grow. You must help the board develop a business plan for this urgent care unit. To prepare for this assignment: • Examine the provided scenario. • Refer...

Words: 390 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Hospital Case Annotated

...time in the hospital’s emergency department (ED). The recent coverage of these problems in the local press, which repeatedly echoed complaints of patients and their families, was making things worse: It took them 18 hours to take care of my mother when she was admitted to the emergency department in the Saintemarie University Hospital — Saintemarie Tribune (March 2009) On September 8, Nancy (86 years old) had to wait eight hours in the ED with a broken leg before seeing a doctor — Saintemarie Tribune (September 2009) Saintemarie was a midsize European city with a population of 512,000. A few private clinics in the area provided urgent care (i.e., treatment which does not require hospitalization), but were unable to handle acute emergencies. The hospital’s ED was the only emergency care unit available in the Saintemarie metropolitan area. The only alternative to it was a hospital located 50 miles away; patients had to be transferred there by helicopter, which happened rarely because such transfers were extremely expensive. Given its central role, Saintemarie University Hospital was under the constant scrutiny of local and state officials. ED congestion can have significant repercussions on a hospital’s ability to provide quality care for patients, many of whom require immediate attention. The secretary of health recognized that the long delays at the city’s primary ED were a substantial public health Author affiliation * MBA ’12, Columbia Business School †...

Words: 5566 - Pages: 23

Premium Essay

Changes in Medical Care and Insurance Impacting Usage of Emergency Rooms.

...Sharnjit Sohi The changes in medical care and insurance and how it impacts usage of emergency rooms was studied. Because of the changes in medical care and insurance, the Affordable Care Act, the emergency room has become a crowded doctor’s office. Lacking on the number of how much availability there is for patients in emergency rooms already, the need for emergency rooms continues to increase. The significance of this study is to see how the current changes in health care insurance have impacted how often or how many people visit the emergency room seeking medical attention. This study will help health care administrators with how to plan for the future when it comes to being most efficient in seeing patients in a timely manner and having the more serious patients visit the emergency room and less serious patients visiting primary care physicians. The social problem that is addressed is that there are many uninsured and underinsured individuals who turn to the emergency room seeking medical attention instead of having the opportunity to see a primary care physician. That contributes to the crowdedness of emergency rooms overall. This is an exploratory study because exploratory research is based off secondary research. For example, by reviewing available literature, data, or using qualitative approaches, which is how this study is conducted. The unit of analysis in this study is the effect of changes in the Affordable Care Act on the usage of emergency rooms. A theory that...

Words: 1938 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Overcrowding in Emergency Room

...by providing emergency care 24 hours a day, 365 days per year without discrimination by social or economic status (Derlet, Richards & Kravitz, 2001). One of the key foundations of EDs is to provide immediate access and stabilization for those patients with medical emergencies (Derlet et al, 2001). The Emergency Department has always been there available to help, unfortunately the basic tenet is now being challenged, and the general public may no longer be able to rely on EDs for quality and timely emergency care, placing the people at risk (Favotich & Hirsch, 2003). According to the Emergency Nurses Association all people are entitled to timely and appropriate access to safe and effective health care. This paper will discuss the problem of overcrowding in the Emergency Room and strategies that the Nurse leader may do to help control overcrowding. Overcrowding in the emergency department (ED) is the most serious issue confronting EDs in the developed world (Favotich & Hirsch, 2003). Overcrowding is a situation “in which the demand for emergency services exceeds the ability of department to provide quality care with acceptable time frames (Joint Commission Resources). According to the Emergency Nurses Association, emergency department crowding is a hospital-wide dilemma caused by factors that extent far beyond the hospital itself (Emergency nurses association, 1989). When emergency department crowding occurs, the number of patients in need of care outweighs the availability...

Words: 1477 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Health Care Paper

...Health Care Paper In: Other Topics Health Care Paper Executive Summary The Report describes a proposal for the Renfrey Memorial Hospital Board of Directors with regard to the health care problems. RMH located in Midwest in US, is facing a problem of lack of nursing staff. It used various strategies, such as increased remuneration, provided good working environment and invested in technology to deal with this problem and retain nursing staff. The report identifies the strategies used by several others hospitals in US and among them two viable solutions are selected for RMH. Then an analysis of the selected solutions is done in terms of stakeholders groups involved and the one who are affected. In the end, best solution concerning the problem is discussed along with its impact on RHM. Managing the standards of care in hospitals and healthcare organizations is unique, yet delicate undertaking the demands for adherence to government regulations and absolute professionalism. Managers of healthcare organizations are expected to demonstrate leadership flexibilities by incorporating sustainable strategies while planning and implementing pre-determined organizational objectives for achieving the best standards of care. The entire organizational design and structure impact on the effectiveness of communication and feedback processes with the open systems approach providing for more interactive and consultative approach among employees across the organizational hierarchy. Introduction ...

Words: 310 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Problems Faced in Call Centre

...Please find the case-2 findings. 1. Suppose you are working as an operator in a call centre in India and receiving calls from Americans and Londoners. How would you handle such calls? * No matter what working in call center, Customer is our king and hence any call received at the desk should be attended politely * The main focus while taking such calls should be in resolving the query of the customer with patience and empathy * At the same time the angry outbursts/irate customers need not be encouraged customer may be reminded about their unprofessional conduct in polite and convincing manner, same time ensuring customer that there query is being addressed by the operator * In case the caller is still not willing to speak to the operator, it is better to escalate the call to boss as instructed by the caller; this may pacify the caller a little * As Mr. Vashistha says regular training sessions should be conducted at call centers by seniors giving tips to their juniors on handling irate customers. * Apart from regular trainings, motivation and appreciation sessions are more required by call center to boost up the energy of the operators 2. Do you agree with the view such abusive happenings on the telephone do not have any impact on business? * If the acceptance of such abusive happenings is limited only to telephone then this may not have any impact on business * The person who is directly impacted due to such abusive happenings is the...

Words: 291 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Zahra

...HOW TO USE CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT APPROACH IN UTILIZING ACCIDENT &EMERGENCY DEPA RMENT? BY ZAHRA AHMED EBRAHIM Master in Business Administration General Management Organization and Business Management Open Asia e University 2011 Introduction Background of the Study A number of approaches to the structure and management of organizations developed during the late 1800s and early 1900s .The early philosophies are traditionally labelled classical theory while the later approaches include systems theory and contingency theory. The classical approach to organization focuses efficiency through design. Eleanor and Phillip (2009) kept four elements to build classical theory: division and specialization of labour, chain of command, organizational structure, and span of control. The first element emphasised about dividing the work reduces the number of task that lead to proficiency and specialization. The second element is the chain of command which is meant the hierarchy of authority and responsibility within the organization. However, the collaboration between staff and there managers improve the efficiency and productivity of the unit. Moreover, the third element is organizational structure that describes the arrangement of the work group. The design of the Organization is intended to faster the organization survival and success. Finally, the span of control addresses the pragmatic concern of how many employees a manager can effectively supervise. The later approaches...

Words: 3093 - Pages: 13

Free Essay

The Affordable Care Act (Aca) and Hospital Compliance

...Abstract The Affordable Care Act (ACA) brings a myriad of changes to the healthcare system and hospitals must adapt accordingly or face dire financial challenges. Some of the financial challenges will originate from the influx of Medicaid patients due to the Medicaid expansion. Based on these changes, there is an increased tendency for hospitals to engineer ways to reduce costs such as patient selection and staff reduction. However, for a hospital to participate in Medicare, which accounts for more than 50% of hospital budgets, certain laws and regulations must be followed. This paper discusses these laws and regulations and offers suggestions on how to adjust successfully to the upcoming changes. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Hospital Compliance In light of the current changes in the healthcare industry, it is imperative for every healthcare organization to adapt accordingly or face dire financial challenges. A major change included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the expansion of Medicaid, which will provide coverage to millions of formerly uninsured US citizens and permanent residents (Rosenbaum, 2011). However, Medicaid is notorious for much lower reimbursement compared to Medicare and private/commercial insurance (M. Schmitt, personal communication, October 7, 2013). In addition, hospitals are now required to prove that the services they bill for actually improve and maintain patients’ health (Leonard, 2013). Hospitals are also required...

Words: 1541 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Effective Communication in the Business Enviorment

...ERIC BALTAS BUSINESS 100 (INTRO TO BUSINESS) May 11, 2014 Communication is the key to every type of relationship or partnership. In the business environment due to a vast variety of people in one business this can be a hard thing to grasp. There are so many different barriers that people face such as language and cultural barriers. It can be hard to communicate with somebody who doesn’t know English or somebody who doesn’t understand your reasoning through cultural differences. I have experienced the hard ships of communication in the business world the trail and the error and also the succession. At my job we are all different but we all share a common ground and that is to heal the human body. We are a small business an urgent care center for people who don’t like the lengthy or pricey trip to the emergency room. The communication in our office was one of the most difficult problems we faced as a business. The doctors all had different styles a to which the nurses had to be adjusted to also none of the nurses would cross check with the others before they completed or did a task. For instance we would try to get together the weekly orders and reports but nobody had communicated this lead to double orders and etc. One day my manager had had enough and sat us down and came with a wonderful game plan for our little office to use and it was very effective. She sat us down and explained our new system. Each week we had a nurses meeting where we would go over tasks and...

Words: 613 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Tulsa Memorial Hospital. Break-Even Analysis

...Tulsa Memorial Hospital (TMH) Break-Even Analysis (Case 6). Brandon Harley, TMH's CEO is concerned about the Urgent Care Center's overall financial soundness. He has 3 options to consider one of them (1) continue to operate as it; (2) close it down; or (3) continue to operate, accompanied by the expanded marketing effort. Positive considerations: 1- TMH has reputation for quality care 2- Urgent care Centers are increasingly visited by patients who need immediate treatment for illness “Wall Street Journal”. 3- One competing center had recently closed. 4- Capacity to see 85 patients/day 5- The center does not have seasonal utilization pattern 6- Expanded marketing program requires no capital investment. Negative Considerations: 1- The center has been staffed at the bare minimum, so any increase in the number of patient visits would require immediate administrative and medical staffing increases. 2- The center on long term lease, with cancellation penalty of 3 months’ rent or $37,500. 3- TMH's major competitor had just bought the city's largest primary care practice, and planning for more acquisitions. 4- Marketing expansion requires marketing assistant and advertising coasts. To consider these positive and negative points especially the closure of competing center and the new acquisition plan by the major competitor, total average that includes 2013 and Jan/Feb 2014 will be used in this analysis to answer the following questions: ...

Words: 616 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Mass Supervisor

...Supervisor Update Page Oracle EBS Technical Team Purpose of the tool • To give facilities ownership and visibility of their Supervisor Hierarchy • To enable the Hierarchy within a Cost Centre to be updated • To allow many people to be updated at once or just an individual employee or supervisor • Easy to update supervisor for multiple employees • Not required HRMS responsibility to update supervisor • No need to toggle between employee record • Capable to update supervisor for a particular cost center in one click Search options Select a Cost Centre to show all supervisors in it, or Find all employees with a named Supervisor, or Combine the two searches Cost Centre based search Supervisor Based search Combined Search Bulk update The Apply All button allows you to change all the employees at once Bulk Update – Even super visor can be added from other facility is possible • . Warning message will be shown, but still can go ahead saving the record. Bulk Update – If more than 10 employee with differenct facility for new supervisor, below warning show. Still can go ahead saving the record. . Single Update • Update supervisor one by one if necessary Single Update – Even super visor can be added from other facility is possible. • Warning message will be shown, but still can go ahead saving the record. Supervisor Hierarchy error – The employee cannot be Supervisor’s Supervisor or cannot be supervisor for...

Words: 463 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Marketing Strategy

...Marketing Strategy Colleena Guy HCS/490 February 22, 2016 Jennifer Johnson Introduction In the changing world of health care, it is important for health care organizations to reach as much people as they can. The evolution of technology has it easier to market products and services to all kinds of people all over the world. There was a time where a person’s access to certain products and services was limited because the world was not so connected as it is now through various modes of communication such as television and the internet. Now that people have more options in health care it is important for upcoming healthcare facilities and organizations appeal to a broader audience. In order to reach more people successfully you have to establish a marketing plan. General Product Information Urgent care clinics are facilities that deliver care to the surrounding community when a person’s primary doctor may not be available to them or when they are suffering from a non-life threatening issue such as accidents and falls, sprains and strains, moderate back problems, breathing difficulties, bleeding/cuts, eye irritation and redness, fever or flu, vomiting, diarrhea or dehydration, and much more (Mount Sinai, 2016). The way we will market this urgent care clinic is by reaching each group represented in society individually. There are five generations represented in globally today and each generation communicates differently and responds differently to different marketing...

Words: 1814 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

E Business

...Wee-Care Urgent Medical Website Plan 1909 Oak Bluff Trail Austell, Georgia 30122 770-942-3199 weecare.com Monifa Mwangi January 4, 2011 Executive Summary One of the top complaints of individuals seeking non-critical emergency services is wait time. For emergency room visits, a patient may spend 2-3 hours in an emergency waiting room for non-critical treatment such as fever, cough, sprains, etc. Quick2treat is an online concept developed to allow consumers access to WeeCare’s current office wait times and allows the patient to schedule an appointment, or hold their place in line for urgent care treatment. Once the patient has confirmed the appointment time, the patient is guaranteed to be seen within 15 minutes upon arrival. Internet registration for non-life threatening emergency department services that allows patient and family to avoid dreaded time in a waiting room. The concept of Quick2treat follows current technology for real-time online status reporting used by the airport industry, amusement parks “fast pass” system and online reservation services in restaurants. The market indicates that there is a significant need for quality “urgent” care other then emergency services provided by area hospital’s emergency rooms. Currently, the clinic employs competent, well-educated physicians and support staff to respond to the current needs of patients, however, there is room for growth. WeeCare has developed an excellent reputation with many of patients, through...

Words: 4295 - Pages: 18