Concentra Adds Urgent Care Services to All Medical Centers

ADDISON, Texas -- Concentra, a leader in the delivery of healthcare solutions, announces it has added levels of urgent care service to all 324 Concentra Medical Centers in more than 40 states across the country.

Through its network of affiliated clinicians, Concentra Urgent Care serves the general public and treats a wide variety of common illnesses, including skin conditions, seasonal allergies, lacerations, fractures, sprains, and strains. Additional services include diagnostic tests, preventive screenings, physical exams, vaccinations, physical therapy, and more. The centers are staffed with physicians and medical providers experienced in urgent care cases as well as family practice and occupational medicine. Depending on the specific clinical, equipment, and operational makeup of each medical center, Concentra Urgent Care locations treat minors, ranging from 6 months of age and older, to adults.

“Our national expansion into urgent care allows us the opportunity to provide skillful care to thousands of patients across the country, at times when a primary care physician may be unavailable,” says W. Tom Fogarty, MD, Concentra’s chief medical officer. “When a patient visits a ConcentraUrgentCareMedicalCenter, we can report back to his/her primary care physician as part of our commitment to provide exceptional patient care.”

Fogarty says that Concentra hopes its efforts will alleviate non-emergency visits to hospital emergency rooms. “Life- and limb-threatening emergencies should still be treated at the nearest hospital emergency room, but colds, flu, strep throat, minor scrapes, burns, and other non-life threatening injuries can be treated in our urgent care facilities – in most cases much faster and less expensively than in an emergency room visit.”

The multi-disciplined team leading the national expansion of Concentra Urgent Care holds extensive experience in consumer-driven healthcare solutions and retail operations. One member of the team, Alan Ayers, serves as a content advisor to the Urgent Care Association of America and has developed retail solutions for several major organizations. As assistant vice president of product development, Ayers is working with Concentra’s clinical, operational, and sales teams to develop patient-centric solutions that are convenient, cost-effective, and emphasize quality outcomes.

“Concentra understands the challenges facing healthcare in the United States and is responding with solutions to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. By adding urgent care to our existing occupational medicine operation, we will significantly enhance our national presence in the consumer health arena,” Ayers says.

“Urgent care providers fill the gap that sometimes exists between a primary physician and an emergency room. The ability of an urgent care center to provide episodic care for acute, non-life-threatening illness and injury is a critical component of any community’s health system. National expansions like Concentra’s continues that effort,” says Lou Ellen Horwitz, executive director of the Urgent Care Association of America.

According to the Division of Health Care Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, only 15 percent of presenting patients at hospital emergency rooms were triaged as emergent cases. Concentra Urgent Care offers a new option, easing the strain on the system, while providing patients with the same level of superior medical treatment, in a welcoming environment of respectfulness and care.

In many major insurance plans, urgent care co-payments are substantially lower than co-payments required for a trip to the Emergency Room. Concentra accepts numerous national group health insurance plans and is continuously adding more plans.

Source: Concentra

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