Slow Months of Urgent Care: Staying Busy

Every urgent care has been there: slow patient volume, and not enough work to keep staff members busy. Even though the slow months can often lead to frustration, it is also a perfect time to catch up on tasks that may get pushed to the wayside.

We want your staff members to be productive and keep your center running efficiently. Here are three ways you and your staff members can stay on top of things when there is low patient volume. 

Competency 

One of the first things on your task list during the summer months should be reviewing core competencies and CME for all staff members. While it may sound redundant, this is the perfect time to make sure your staff knows and understands how to respond in certain situations. 

This could be as simple as reviewing competency lectures or videos as a group or even passing out helpful information. 

Additionally, your center can also make sure all staff members are up to date on their CME. Whether you exclusively use a vendor for CME or allow staff members to find CME on their own, making sure that they are on their way to earning the right amount of credits is vital to the health of your center. Not only will help your staff members refresh their memory on urgent care best practices, but it will also secure consistent reimbursements from payers. 

If your center does utilize a specific vendor, then the summer is the perfect time to “clean” up records. This includes removing providers who are no longer there or making sure new hires are added to the system. We recommend you do this on a monthly basis, but use the summer for a nice catch-up.  

Policies and Procedures 

Policies and procedures in an urgent care, while an important aspect, tend to be in the background. It’s easy to create them at the beginning and forget about them, but the summer is the perfect time to make sure everyone is aware of all policies and procedures. 

We recommend setting aside time for each group of staff members, front staff, back staff, providers, etc., and walk through all policies and procedures for the center. Additionally, this may be a good time to see if anyone has any insight as to strategic changes in procedures so that you can continue to run as efficiently as possible. 

Taking inventory

Out of all the items to complete, taking inventory is probably the most common task to do when times are slow. In recent posts, we discussed taking inventory in order to make sure you have enough supplies for the summer months. When taking inventory, you can keep an eye out for supplies you might need during the fall/winter. With back to school and flu season right around the corner, taking inventory will help your center prepare for a season that tends to be much busier. 

Our hope is that your center is running efficiently and staff members are staying productive. Are you interested in learning more about center operations and optimizations? Contact us today for a free quote!