(OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. – July 10, 2008) The Joint Commission and the Urgent Care Association of America (UCAOA) have partnered to provide quality oversight for urgent care clinics, which provide walk-in treatment for many injuries, illnesses and conditions ranging from minor sore throats to head injuries. There are an estimated 8,000 urgent care centers in the United States.
Both organizations currently provide accreditation for urgent care clinics, but in the new alliance the UCAOA will discontinue its accreditation program and focus its support on services available under The Joint Commission’s ambulatory care accreditation program. The collaboration will include development of quality standards specific to urgent care, targeted for introduction in 2010.
“Joint Commission accreditation encompasses an on site evaluation of an urgent care center’s compliance with rigorous national standards,” says Charles A. Mowll, executive vice president, The Joint Commission. “Achieving Joint Commission accreditation helps the urgent care center improve and provide the public with a marker of quality.”
“Urgent care centers are an essential part of the health care system in communities across the U.S. and internationally – not only because of their ease of access but their ability to treat a broad scope of illness and injury,” says Lou Ellen Horwitz, executive director, Urgent Care Association of America. “Our collaboration with The Joint Commission will help us continue to focus our quality assurance efforts specifically on urgent care, but on a worldwide scale.”
Many patients seek treatment at urgent care centers because a wide range of care is available, no appointment is required and the centers are open nights, weekends and holidays. Nurses, doctors, technologists and other health care professionals provide treatment for conditions such as allergies, sports injuries, sprains, colds and flu, back pain, and fractures.
The Joint Commission has been accrediting ambulatory organizations, including those providing urgent care, since 1975. The Urgent Care Association of America represents urgent care sites across the country and earlier this year joined The Joint Commission’s Ambulatory Professional and Technical Advisory Committee to provide input on standards and other issues.
For more information about urgent care or ambulatory care accreditation, please contact Michael Kulczycki, executive director, Ambulatory Care Accreditation at 630-792-5286 or mkulczycki@jointcommission.org.
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The Urgent Care Association of America was founded in 2004 to fill a need in the urgent care field for an association that existed not only to provide leadership, education and resources for the successful practice of urgent care, but to do so as a representative of its members. The Association serves on an international scope, joining together the over 8,000 urgent care centers in the US and additional centers across the world, including centers in Ireland and Jerusalem. UCAOA provides educational programs in clinical care and practice management, sponsors urgent care Fellowship programs, funds industry research, provides the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine and maintains an active online community for exchange of best practices among members. Learn more about UCAOA at http://www.ucaoa.org/.