PTs working in Urgent Care

[amjadjamal]

Anybody have/know anybody/done anything in Urgent Care? I read about it yesterday and wanted to know more information.

Also, does anybody know what kind of salary the PTs working in UC get?

thanks.

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[markelmarcel]

I did a clinical rotation in urgent care... sort of... Concentra is a nation wide company that is part Urgent Care and part worker's comp... The PTs worked with the worker's comp patients only. It was really cool though because I saw all sorts of crazy things (like contusions, crush injuries, etc) that you normally don't see in OP. I have no idea what the salary of my CI or the other PT working there, was... But, it was nifty!

 

[amjadjamal]

I did a clinical rotation in urgent care... sort of... Concentra is a nation wide company that is part Urgent Care and part worker's comp... The PTs worked with the worker's comp patients only. It was really cool though because I saw all sorts of crazy things (like contusions, crush injuries, etc) that you normally don't see in OP. I have no idea what the salary of my CI or the other PT working there, was... But, it was nifty!

thanks for the reply. Do you know if you have to get certification in emergency in order to work in urgent care as a urgent care PT?

Also referrals won't be the issue since the doctor is already there in the urgent care right?

Last question..where do you think there is a higher chance of generating a better revenue..working in the emergency department or the urgent care.

Thanks.

 

[markelmarcel]

thanks for the reply. Do you know if you have to get certification in emergency in order to work in urgent care as a urgent care PT?

Also referrals won't be the issue since the doctor is already there in the urgent care right?

Last question..where do you think there is a higher chance of generating a better revenue..working in the emergency department or the urgent care.

Thanks.

No special certification was required and yes, if the physician saw someone who they felt needed to see a PT (even as a consult only) they would call over and we would see them. But, like I said, when I was there (which was 3 years ago now, so things may have changed) -- it was all worker's compensation people and very few Urgent Care people. But, things may have changed... The downside to being a PT at Concentra was you could not see anyone from the outside... so, even those Urgent Care people you saw (once for consult only) could not continue to come to PT if it was indicated since it's a worker's compensation facility. So 100% of my patients there were worker's compensation patients.

Also, you cannot (as far as I know) work as a PT purely in an ER-- when I did my rotation at the hospital, sometimes we were called downstairs (again as consult only) to the ER department to see someone to determine where they should go (for instance- older people who were sick, but not sick enough to be admitted, but not sick enough to go home, or teaching someone how to use crutches, etc. Very basic stuff.)

 

[ptisfun2]

Also, you cannot (as far as I know) work as a PT purely in an ER-- when I did my rotation at the hospital, sometimes we were called downstairs (again as consult only) to the ER department to see someone to determine where they should go (for instance- older people who were sick, but not sick enough to be admitted, but not sick enough to go home, or teaching someone how to use crutches, etc. Very basic stuff.)

That is not quite true. A fair number of hospitals have ED-based PTs, and I believe the primary diagnoses being seen are low back pain, and other acute musculoskeletal issues. Here is the APTA link for the ED Toolkit. Much of this is member only, but the basic information is available to all. http://www.apta.org/EmergencyDepartment/. And here is an AHRQ White paper on this topic: http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=2645.

 

[markelmarcel]

That is not quite true. A fair number of hospitals have ED-based PTs, and I believe the primary diagnoses being seen are low back pain, and other acute musculoskeletal issues. Here is the APTA link for the ED Toolkit. Much of this is member only, but the basic information is available to all. http://www.apta.org/EmergencyDepartment/. And here is an AHRQ White paper on this topic: http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=2645.

That's why I said as far as I know, because in my area's hospitals these positions don't exist. Thanks for the link, I'm a member so I will be able to read up!