Practice Management
As the flu season gains momentum in the United States, a triple threat of viruses—influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—is causing concern. Children under age 5 in particular are heavily impacted, and they made up more than 10% of visits for flu-like illnesses the week before Thanksgiving, according to federal data. Pediatric hospital beds were strained across the nation with about 75% in use. Mandy Cohen, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control …
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Blood Pressure Monitoring—Cuff Size Matters Take Home Point: The use of an inaccurately sized automated blood pressure (BP) cuff resulted in significantly inaccurate BP readings. Citation: Ishigami J, Charleston J, Miller E, et. al. Effects of Cuff Size on the Accuracy of Blood Pressure Readings: The Cuff(SZ) Randomized Crossover Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2023 Oct 1;183(10):1061-1068. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.3264. Relevance: Chronic hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality, and accurate measurement …
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Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Urgent Message: Whether an urgent care center should be open 365 days per year or close on major or minor holidays depends upon factors that influence profitability such as patient demand, competitive positioning, staff availability, payer reimbursement, and the branding impact of after-hours accessibility. As urgent care operators look to the coming holiday season and begin their strategic planning for the new year, many are faced with the question of …
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Urgent Message: Better understanding of tympanic membrane/middle ear conditions can inform more accurate diagnoses at the point of care. Citation: LaCour J. Tympanic Membrane Conditions Beyond Otitis Media in Urgent Care Practice. J Urgent Care Med. 2023;18(3):15-19 Author Affiliation: Jeff LaCour, MD, Compassio Medical Education. Video: Watch a video featuring Jeff LaCour, MD, that further explains tympanic membrane conditions with supplemental images. WATCH VIDEO Urgent care providers are often tasked to determine the source of …
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A 25-year-old male presents to urgent care with ongoing pain in his right shoulder. He denies trauma and reports the pain is deep within the shoulder joint itself. View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the following page.
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Case presented by Jonathan Giordano, DO A 64-year-old female presents in the urgent care complaining of dyspnea for the past 3 days. After asking a few questions, you learn the woman has a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). View the ECG captured above and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page
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Urgent Message: Although urgent care providers would not be equipped to make an initial diagnosis of Berger’s disease, it’s important to recognize the signs that may suggest this condition and refer patients for follow-up. Emily Pierson PA-C, Christina Gardner DHSc, MBA, PA-C Key words: Berger’s disease, hematuria, IgA Nephropathy, nephrology, urgent care, case report Abstract Introduction IgA Nephropathy (IgAN)—sometimes known as Berger’s disease—is the most common primary glomerular disease in the world. It often has …
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A 51-year-old man presents to urgent care concerned about an asymptomatic rash that developed over his face within the last month. On examination, pink and violaceous, annular, scaly papules, and plaques were seen on his cheeks and within his beard area and nasolabial folds. The patient appeared well and reported no systemic symptoms. View the image above and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the …
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Same-day ambulatory healthcare services are the hallmark of urgent care (UC). Because UC clinicians care for a wide range of conditions and injuries, they need to be proficient in a broad scope of immediate intervention services. In its latest white paper, the Urgent Care Association (UCA)Â noted that more organizations are moving to a staffing model with nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) serving as the primary providers on-site, rather than physicians. This model grew …
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A recurring issue for healthcare practitioners is the frequency with which they find themselves contemplating whether a patient encounter should be classified as a level 3 or level 4 office visit. With a staggering 79% of ambulatory patient visits falling within these categories, this query has become exceedingly common among providers. Complicating matters further, the coding guidelines from the American Medical Association (AMA) contain gray areas that can contribute to additional confusion.[1] This article aims …
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