bnapolitano, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

End of 2018 Saw More Health Systems Pour Money into Urgent Care Offerings

Feeling the pressure to improve outcomes while simultaneously cutting costs, an ever-growing number of hospitals and health systems are investing heavily in urgent care. Of particular note are four health systems that splurged in the fourth quarter of 2018. Becker’s Hospital Review highlighted the following in a recent post: San Francisco-based Dignity Health partnered with GoHealth Urgent Care to buy six urgent care centers operated by Golden State Urgent care. McLaren Health Care, in Grand …

Emory Gives Nod to Urgent Care’s Role in Treating mTBI in Children

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine are enlisting clinicians, patients, caregivers, and schools to help evaluate Emory’s own TBI Evaluation and Management (TEaM) Toolkit, with the intention of rolling it out to health systems ultimately. The toolkit was devised to boost recovery in children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The aim of the Emory study will be to show that validated “clinical practice and education for patients, caregivers, clinical providers and schools is …

A 14-Year-Old Boy with Elbow Pain After a Fall on an Outstretched Hand

The patient is a 14-year-old boy who is brought to your urgent care center with lateral right elbow pain after falling on his outstretched hand (FOOSH) while ice skating. The pain worsens when he attempts to straighten his arm. View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.

Despite Demonization, Marketing is an Essential Healthcare Cost—Especially in Urgent Care

An article just published online by NBC News takes potshots at the cost of healthcare marketing, implying (and outright stating, through “experts” quoted in the piece) that it raises healthcare spending unnecessarily and causes some consumers to fret over diseases they didn’t even know existed. It cites data, published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, revealing that overall healthcare marketing spending is up to $30 billion a year (nearly twice what it …

How the Government Shutdown Could Affect Some Urgent Care Centers

The federal government shutdown could cause both minor inconveniences and major problems for urgent care operations, depending on how long it drags on. It’s unclear how well the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be running if workers are off the job for a while, for example. And urgent care operators who provide occupational medicine services to government customers could see diminished business. Some urgent care centers might also end up benefiting from the …

Recognize Antibiotic Decision Points to Help Stem Resistance

Urgent care providers wrestle with decisions about antibiotic prescribing every day. It’s not made any easier by patients who plead for a script, either. Some guidance, or at least validation, might be drawn from a new Viewpoint piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, however. It analyzes concepts put forth by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, identifying four “moments” in which clinicians should ask themselves certain questions about each patient’s …

What Can Traditional Urgent Care Learn from ZoomCare’s Ongoing Evolution?

The acquisition of ZoomCare by PeaceHealth brings what was predicted to be a retail-style phenomenon under the umbrella of a relatively traditional hospital system. The irony is that ZoomCare was in need of cash despite offering a practice model designed to appeal to millennial patients (the largest segment of the U.S. population today), but is still an appealing property to a regional hospital powerhouse. One of the key values is presumed to be access and …

Update: Measles Outbreaks Have Spread in 21 States

Cases of vaccine-preventable diseases continue to pile up across the country, with Oregon and Washington being the latest states to report outbreaks of measles. One of the affected children in Washington, whose immunization status was unknown, was diagnosed at an urgent care center in Vancouver in late December. Public health officials in both states are publicizing locations where patients with measles visited in order to encourage people they may have come in contact with to …

Top Hospital Chain Branches Out into Psychiatric Urgent Care

Hackensack Meridian Health, the largest hospital chain in New Jersey, is merging with Carrier Clinic as the first step in staking a claim in an emerging urgent care “specialty.” Hackensack and Carrier, which specializes in treating patients with substance abuse and mental health issues, will open an urgent care facility specifically for patients with such concerns in Neptune, NJ. The aim will be to offer walk-in care for patients in crisis, largely in order to …

Want to Be a Better Urgent Care Manager? Get to Bed!

Urgent message: While many rising managers believe there is virtue to “burning the midnight oil,” in reality they may be setting a bad example that undermines their team’s motivation, effectiveness, and even ethics, while putting their own health at risk. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Great managers are always looking for ways to improve, become …