Ask Dr. Stern: Starting a metropolitan urgent care center

Q: I am planning to open an urgent care center in a downtown metropolitan city in Missouri. My first question is how I should approach the subject of EMR and coding and how to look at the costs and benefits involved. I want to hit the ground running when we open. Can you help me?

A: Downtown urgent care centers are very tricky. There are very few successful downtown urgent care centers in the United States. I know a center in the Loop in Chicago, which within 18 months of opening sees 30-40 patients a day, but I would not consider it successful until it averages over 50 patients a day. By this criterion, there may not be a single successful downtown urgent care center in the nation. A downtown urgent care center is one of the most difficult startups. Expenses are higher and growth in patient volume is significantly slower.

Practice Velocity is involved in helping urgent care centers in several ways. We offer software solutions for marketing, charting, coding, billing, occupational medicine protocols, and collections. Our sister company, NMN Consultants, performs consulting services for urgent care centers, offering pro-forma help, purchasing advice, floor plan review, and a checklist of over 1,500 items to complete in the startup of an urgent care center. And finally, PV Billing offers full-service billing services and managed care contracting for urgent care centers across the nation.

Practice Velocity will exceed your expectations with the fastest charting, easiest implementation, and most return on investment (usually more than $10 increased revenue per patient).

We would be delighted to host your team for a full-day tour of our headquarters. Feel free to call and schedule a visit to our urgent care headquarters (only one hour from O’Hare Airport). During the tour, we can discuss your needs for starting an urgent care, including the challenges of a downtown urgent care, reception, marketing, site selection, added services, occupational medicine, patient flow, and any other questions you may have.