Urgent care

[podfam3008]

Has anyone on here been hired by an urgent care directly to see their foot/ankle patients at the facility? I feel like there’s a need for it as we do get a lot of referrals from multiple urgent cares nearby. I’m looking for extra part-time work and there are a few urgent cares in my city, including privately owned ones. Has anyone ever done this before? Would it be worth it to send a letter and introduce myself to see if this could be an option? Any tips/ideas on how one would go about doing this would be appreciated. Thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[HardRoadPaved]

Has anyone on here been hired by an urgent care directly to see their foot/ankle patients at the facility? I feel like there’s a need for it as we do get a lot of referrals from multiple urgent cares nearby. I’m looking for extra part-time work and there are a few urgent cares in my city, including privately owned ones. Has anyone ever done this before? Would it be worth it to send a letter and introduce myself to see if this could be an option? Any tips/ideas on how one would go about doing this would be appreciated. Thanks.

Not sure why the urgent care center would want to pay you when they can get a PA/NP at much cheaper. They go in make sure nothing serious and then kick patient over to a specialist anyway all while they make money. You are going to be rate limited by podiatry fee schedules when you credential unless you have a supervising doc above you that has a hire fee schedule. Also lets say there is a fracture, is the patient just expected to leave that facility where they were "new" and follow with you as "established" and you have to do all their paperwork over again at your full time office?

 

[heybrother]

See above. Also, if you are already capturing their referrals then why would you want to go there? You will make more money in your own clinic, with your own supplies and DME, using your own x-ray, being assisted by your own staff.

 

[Pronation]

See above. Also, if you are already capturing their referrals then why would you want to go there? You will make more money in your own clinic, with your own supplies and DME, using your own x-ray, being assisted by your own staff.

I'm betting he's an associate

 

[dtrack22]

Not sure why the urgent care center would want to pay you when they can get a PA/NP at much cheaper

sadly this isn’t true considering podiatry associates are often making $50/hr or less all over the country. A PA or NP would likely get paid at least that and in the case of an NP, almost certainly more than that. Nurses at Kaiser make over $50/hr.

But really what they wouldn’t be interested in is what others have mentioned. A podiatrists limited scope. We can’t treat most of what walks in their doors (kids with fevers, headaches, any non foot and ankle injury, stomach pain, strep throat, flu symptoms, etc.). We are significantly less valuable to an urgent care than a nurse practitioner or a PA. When I was in a bigger metro their was an orthopedic group that had orthopedic urgent care clinics. Like that was the practice. Market UC facilities specifically for orthopedic injuries, staff them with PAs and orthos who rotated between the clinics, be the first one to get the patient their DME, bill UC facility fees and codes, offer some immediate treatments, and feed yourself gentleman’s trauma. Even they didn’t have any interest in having a podiatrist join the group or staff a clinic because they would have still needed a PA/NP/DO/MD in the building with you.

Also, if you are already capturing their referrals then why would you want to go there? You will make more money in your own clinic, with your own supplies and DME, using your own x-ray, being assisted by your own staff.

Take this advice even though I agree the OP is probably an associate and not really making money off of these things. His/her/their/Xe/Zim’s boss is...

 

[GreenHousePub]

I know a person who had to "market" themselves to various urgent care's for their associate job. They said that multiple urgent cares made them offers to come work for them.

I also know a few people that worked for Concentra urgent cares.

 

[dtrack22]

I know a person who had to "market" themselves to various urgent care's for their associate job. They said that multiple urgent cares made them offers to come work for them.

I also know a few people that worked for Concentra urgent cares.

There are urgent care companies who are expanding into essentially multi-specialty groups that are based around the urgent care facilities and their referrals. Concentra is doing that to some extent since they have guaranteed business with their work comp contracts. I haven’t seen positions with those types of companies that look like traditional urgent care jobs where you go to work without anyone on your schedule and just sit and wait for people to come in. You have scheduled patients, referrals, follow ups but then it’s light enough that you can take walk-ins that the parent urgent care company is advertising.

Other urgent cares have become hybrid urgent care and PCP offices. So they have regular physicians who staff the location, but they do have a small census of patients who come in for regular appointments and those docs are that patient’s PCP. But again, light enough or staffed so that they can always accept walk ins when they are open, like a traditional urgent care.

I’d love to know what podiatrist is doing shift work in an urgent care, getting paid to sit there until a foot or ankle complaint comes in.

 

[deleted285117]

I’d love to know what podiatrist is doing shift work in an urgent care, getting paid to sit there until a foot or ankle complaint comes in.

Amen to that... can go all day with nothing or an occasional toe fracture by Granny.

 

[CutsWithFury]

Has anyone on here been hired by an urgent care directly to see their foot/ankle patients at the facility? I feel like there’s a need for it as we do get a lot of referrals from multiple urgent cares nearby. I’m looking for extra part-time work and there are a few urgent cares in my city, including privately owned ones. Has anyone ever done this before? Would it be worth it to send a letter and introduce myself to see if this could be an option? Any tips/ideas on how one would go about doing this would be appreciated. Thanks.

I have a colleague who works for an urgent care facility. Makes 6 figures (>120K) and only works 3 days a week.

In my geographic area there is an urgent care facility that has an older podiatrist hired who probably works a limited schedule. He has thrown me some referrals in the past.

 

[619]

As others have said, If you own your practice and the urgent care is already sending you referrals, no point in trying to work for them because you make more money in your own clinic. This is 100% facts.
On the other hand, if you are an associate and want to work for them, then your boss always gets a cut of your sweat. And if OP is thinking of quitting his associate job to work for the Urgent care, very hard for an urgent care to hire a pod full time. At best will be part time. But then again, as others mentioned, you can be working part time for an urgent care and still be making more money than being an associate for another pod.

 

[HalluxSlicer]

Doesn't podiatry residencies typically allow you to rotate through different departments your 1st year such as Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Family Practice, etc? If so, then podiatrists should have the capability to see Urgent Care patients even if it's not directly podiatry related as at the end of the day we're considered as physicians (with more training than PA / NP) no?

With the ongoing primary care physician deficit US faces, it would be assumed that podiatrists can help tackle that issue...

 

[heybrother]

Doesn't podiatry residencies typically allow you to rotate through different departments your 1st year such as Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Family Practice, etc? If so, then podiatrists should have the capability to see Urgent Care patients even if it's not directly podiatry related as at the end of the day we're considered as physicians (with more training than PA / NP) no?

With the ongoing primary care physician deficit US faces, it would be assumed that podiatrists can help tackle that issue...

Nope.

 

[air bud]

Doesn't podiatry residencies typically allow you to rotate through different departments your 1st year such as Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Family Practice, etc? If so, then podiatrists should have the capability to see Urgent Care patients even if it's not directly podiatry related as at the end of the day we're considered as physicians (with more training than PA / NP) no?

With the ongoing primary care physician deficit US faces, it would be assumed that podiatrists can help tackle that issue...

Lol no

 

[HardRoadPaved]

I thought we got full unrestricted licenses as part of APMA Vision 2020 😛

 

[deleted285117]

Doesn't podiatry residencies typically allow you to rotate through different departments your 1st year such as Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Family Practice, etc? If so, then podiatrists should have the capability to see Urgent Care patients even if it's not directly podiatry related as at the end of the day we're considered as physicians (with more training than PA / NP) no?

With the ongoing primary care physician deficit US faces, it would be assumed that podiatrists can help tackle that issue...

Every state has a definitive scope of practice for DPM degree. At least in FL where i’m at I can treat up to tibial tuberosity. OH was nice as we could also do derm on the hands.

Some states are worse... A LOT worse... I think S Carolina was a bad one?

 

[Weirdy]

With the ongoing primary care physician deficit US faces, it would be assumed that podiatrists can help tackle that issue...

Bruh....can tell you havn't clerked yet or worked with other specialties enough to know what you don't know.

Come back after 4th year and see if you feel the same.
Having spent a month on wards with internal medicine, I would be more than happy to only take care of foot and ankle and consult the necessary specialties with pertinent labs ordered for them.

Don't drink the rhetoric of "increasing diabetics" and "Primary care physician shortage" = DPM should be doing more out of our scope. Makes no sense to be doing that.

 

[air bud]

Bruh....can tell you havn't clerked yet or worked with other specialties enough to know what you don't know.

Come back after 4th year and see if you feel the same.
Having spent a month on wards with internal medicine, I would be more than happy to only take care of foot and ankle and consult the necessary specialties with pertinent labs ordered for them.

Don't drink the rhetoric of "increasing diabetics" and "Primary care physician shortage" = DPM should be doing more out of our scope. Makes no sense to be doing that.

lol its nice to see you rounding into shape after your early years here on SDN.

 

[619]

podiatrists should have the capability to see Urgent Care patients even if it's not directly podiatry related as at the end of the day we're considered as physicians (with more training than PA / NP) no?

Yes and No

Yes in the sense that a podiatrist may be able to see patients in urgent care for conditions not related to podiatry like we do in Residency but then an MD/DO will have to sign off on the notes. I don't know which practicing pod will like to sign up for that. Sign up to be treated like a Resident for life.

No in the sense that Urgent Care is a business like any other business and the number one goal is to make profit. Profit even comes above patient care. So it does not make financial sense to hire a pod when you can hire an NP or PA.

 

[Pronation]

Yes and No

Yes in the sense that a podiatrist may be able to see patients in urgent care for conditions not related to podiatry like we do in Residency but then an MD/DO will have to sign off on the notes. I don't know which practicing pod will like to sign up for that. Sign up to be treated like a Resident for life.

No in the sense that Urgent Care is a business like any other business and the number one goal is to make profit. Profit even comes above patient care. So it does not make financial sense to hire a pod when you can hire an NP or PA.

You sure about the MD/DO signing off on notes? As a residents, pods do not have a restrictive license, and an MD/DO can sign off on any procedure being done anywhere on the body by a pod. After completion of residency, the license is restricted to the foot and ankle. Regardless, this topic is silly.

 

[619]

You sure about the MD/DO signing off on notes? As a residents, pods do not have a restrictive license, and an MD/DO can sign off on any procedure being done anywhere on the body by a pod. After completion of residency, the license is restricted to the foot and ankle. Regardless, this topic is silly.

Well my reply was hypothetical. very unlikely any Urgent care is going to hire a Pod full time. No point in beating a dead horse.

 

[HalluxSlicer]

You sure about the MD/DO signing off on notes? As a residents, pods do not have a restrictive license, and an MD/DO can sign off on any procedure being done anywhere on the body by a pod. After completion of residency, the license is restricted to the foot and ankle. Regardless, this topic is silly.

In essence, NPs have autonomy to sign off on majority of the primary care stuff without oversight while DPMs cannot? I've heard that in Arizona DPMs are super restricted like NPs can prescribe more medications which is mind boggling given that we go to 4 years of medical program then 3 year of residency.

In the end I find it interesting and unfortunate that parity for podiatry is not there

 

[DYK343]

In essence, NPs have autonomy to sign off on majority of the primary care stuff without oversight while DPMs cannot? I've heard that in Arizona DPMs are super restricted like NPs can prescribe more medications which is mind boggling given that we go to 4 years of medical program then 3 year of residency.

In the end I find it interesting and unfortunate that parity for podiatry is not there

Im not sure about arizona particularily as I dont practice there but podiatrists can Rx any medication that is related to foot/ankle pathology.

If I am going to rx a medication that if a female were to become pregnant could have a serious side effect. I could Rx birth control in addition to the medication I am Rx to treat the foot problem. Thats an unlikely scenario but not an illegal scenario and within our scope of practice.

I sent a Rx for colchicine today. You better bet I stopped their statin and will restart it when completed with colchicine. Thats more of a practical scenario.

Bascially you can Rx anything. Just have to have reason to Rx or adjust the medication.

 

[DYK343]

And no DPM is going to be in an urgent care playing PCP.
Thats not what we do
Thats not what we go to school for.
Thats not what we are experts in.

On the flip side I have to fix all the PA/NP/MD ER foot and ankle mistakes they make which seems to be a lot as of recently. But theyre not foot specialists. Double flip side i would slaughter their DKA protocal and someone would have to fix my mistakes. We all have our place.

 

[PTPuser]

Oh hell no, I hate UC, and PCP stuff. That's a nightmare. I'll stick to feet.