The Critical Importance of Clinical Operations in Urgent Care Centers: The OrthoNOW Experience

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Accidents and injuries do not occur by appointment so patients rely on urgent care treatments daily. For facilities providing urgent health care there are inner workings behind the scenes that few understand. Urgent care facilities, especially those who are being franchised, need highly trained professionals who are experts on the diversity and complexity of “clinical operations.” The Director of Clinical Operations juggles multiple responsibilities that assure that services are compliant with clinical standards, policies, and regulations.

Some of the responsibilities of a Director of Clinical Operations include:

Ensuring compliance with State and Federal regulations, as well as, company policies and procedures
Focus on quality improvement of the clinical program
Promoting Center visibility and support relationships with select organizations, facilities, and corporations
Training and continued education of Center personnel within OrthoNOW business model
Strategizing with staff regarding business development, new care models and program growth
Overseeing the integrity of the patient data base system or EHR to ensure consistency in data entry and integrity of outcomes

The Affordable Care Act has created a time of transformation in the health care industry unlike any previously seen. It has created a fertile ground for entrepreneurs to change the game in terms of health care delivery methods. The emergence of urgent care center medical facilities is just one example of change. This trend, and economic opportunity, has also placed a spotlight on the importance of clinical operations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, overall employment of medical directors is poised to grow by 23 percent before 2022.

Recently, I became part of the development team at OrthoNOW, the nation’s only orthopedic urgent care franchise – as its first Director of Clinical Operations. The organization is going through a period of rapid advancement, which has included the opening of numerous locations in Florida and Georgia. This created a need for OrthoNOW to quickly assemble an exceptional group of visionary disruptors that can provide investors a turn-key franchise solution and seamlessly open multiple locations simultaneously.

As part of the owner package, new franchisees will have the opportunity to train on the responsibilities of clinical operations that come with a new center including: planning, directing, and evaluating all medical activities within their facilities. My goal is to provide the centers the necessary tools to boost economical and efficient performance of their medical team while delivering high-quality orthopedic and sports-related urgent care services.