by Marius Ged, on Dec 29, 2022 12:01:06 PM
Welcome to the December edition of our monthly urgent care news, brought to you by Ged Lawyers.
Our roundups cover new imaging techniques and research to the latest center growth strategies for increased revenue. Stay tuned for updates on the latest happenings in urgent care!
What's New in Florida Urgent Care
1) Florida's Largest Urgent Care Operator MD Now Opens Its First Location in South Tampa
Florida’s largest urgent care operator MD Now is adding to its footprint of more than 65 locations with a new clinic in South Tampa, its first in the area and the second in Hillsborough County. The clinic has six exam rooms, an X-ray room, a procedure room, a triage room, and a space for professional development.
Locals can turn to the clinic for treatment of illnesses and injuries, as well as for X-rays and EKGs, vaccinations and immunizations, lab testing, physicals, and pre-op evaluations. The clinic accepts walk-ins on weekdays from 8 AM until 4 PM.
“This new clinic has an experienced, compassionate, physician-led team of healthcare professionals ready to meet the needs of its patients in a comfortable, safe, and modern environment. We are thrilled to be able to bring our superior healthcare model to the South Tampa community,” said Dr. Curtis Franke, MD Now’s Chief Medical Officer.
Industry Updates
1) Convenience Store QuikTrip Plans to Open Additional Urgent Care Locations Around the Country
Another type of retailer is considering expanding its urgent care operations: convenience stores. QuikTrip Corp., which operates more than 900 locations around the country, is considering opening walk-in clinics in Kansas and Missouri in partnership with its subsidiary MedWise LLC.
The company opened its first 11 MedWise clinics in and around its Tulsa, Oklahoma headquarters in 2020.
“QuikTrip is known for friendly, efficient delivery of high-quality products to customers around the country. We believe that these are the exact characteristics that will help us provide excellent care to patients at MedWise,” said the urgent care subsidiary's Chief Medical Officer Patrick Aguilar.
2) Walgreen's VillageMD In Talks for a Merger with Summit Health
Two major players in urgent care - Village MD and Summit Health - are eying a merger in the near future. Walgreen’s holds 63 percent ownership in VillageMD, which operates 150 clinics in pharmacy locations and plans to open 850 more co-located clinics by 2027. VillageMD also has several hundred clinics independent of Walgreens.
Created in 2019, Summit Health operates 370 facilities in the northeast and Oregon. Nearly 3,000 providers are employed at Summit Health clinics.
Bloomberg estimates that the urgent care conglomerate would be valued at between $5 and $10 billion.
“Retail health clinics, primary care practices, and urgent care centers all fill the demand for accessible care, and each in their own way serves as a first step into the healthcare system. If the deal with Summit Health goes through, Walgreens would have all bases covered—including home health, as it now has full ownership of CareCentrix,” explains Business Insider.
Growing Your Practice
1) Consider Offering Telemedicine as an Alternative to Urgent Care Visits During Winter Illness Season
As winter illness is set to spike over the next few months, urgent care facilities around the country suggest virtual urgent care visits as an alternative to in-person care. Many providers are also touting the benefits of telemedicine to clients who may be disinclined to use virtual appointments.
“There’s some discretion that should be used, but if you’re just looking for guidance or you have mild symptoms and are trying to figure out what’s going on, I think it’s a way to help offload a lot of the more overwhelmed departments,” said Ryan Peterson, a physician assistant at ExpressCare.
ExpressCare is the virtual urgent care wing of Rochester Regional Health, an integrated health services organization. The telemedicine practice connects patients with providers seven days a week on demand. Providers are available through the MyCare app from 9 AM until 9 PM on weekdays and from 9 AM until 5 PM on weekends.
Telemedicine alternatives are proving to be an alternative to in-person visits for limiting wait times and spreading illness in urgent care waiting rooms.
2) How Ged Lawyers Helped One Urgent Care Clinic Recover Over $800,000
Though Florida requires all drivers to have personal injury protection (PIP), not all insurance companies pay fully (or at all) for medical procedures covered. That is why many medical providers are missing hundreds, thousands, or millions of dollars in unpaid or underpaid PIP claims.
Take one particularly egregious example. An insurance company failed to pay an urgent care center more than $800,000 in PIP claims. The attorneys at Ged Lawyers worked to secure these funds in over 16,000 cases - only 1,200 of which were actually litigated.
Often, our attorneys can send demand letters to insurance companies and receive immediate payment. Ultimately, in a partnership with Ged Lawyers, you can receive your underpaid and unpaid PIP claim funds with limited effort on your part.
If you have outstanding claims that insurance companies have failed to pay, our firm can help. Our team can efficiently win you the funds you’re owed. Call us at (561) 867-4765 or toll-free at 844 - 4GEDLAW to schedule a consultation.
