Eliminating disruption, distraction, and dissatisfaction is paramount to delivering efficient and high-quality care these days. More than ever, urgent cares are competing to differentiate themselves by moving patients through the encounter faster and with a more reliably exceptional experience. We’ve adopted slick technologies and reconfigured work flows to improve care delivery. So, why do our teams still struggle with consistency? Why do we still see high levels of burnout and turnover—and what can we do …
Read More
A 3-Year-Old Girl with Vesicles on Her Palms and Soles
Case A 3-year-old girl was brought to urgent care with small widespread vesicles, including on her palms and soles. She had begun to develop painful oral vesicles, as well, and was refusing to eat. The rash began a few days after flu-like symptoms of fever, sore throat, cough, and headache. View the photo and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
Read More
Establishing Success Habits for Leaders and Organizations
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. Urgent message: High achievers across industries and professions all share a common trait: the ability to leverage the power of habit to ingrain positive behaviors that lead to success. Hence, urgent care operators that can cultivate great habits in themselves and their teams effectively lay the foundation for a thriving …
Read More
Approach to Fever and Drooling in Infants and Toddlers
Urgent message: Typical drooling is no cause for alarm in infants and toddlers. However, excessive drooling accompanied by fever or other various red flags could be signs of more serious concerns such as retropharyngeal abscess, Ludwig angina, or upper airway obstruction. Recognition should trigger a thorough evaluation by the urgent care provider. Katherine P. Dureau, MD CASE A 24-month-old previously full-term and vaccinated male presents to an urgent care center with 24 hours of fever …
Read More
Atlantic Health System, MedExpress Team Up in New Jersey Urgent Care Centers
Atlantic Health System and MedExpress have forged a partnership to coordinate care among 11 MedExpress neighborhood medical centers and Atlantic Health System’s network of physicians, hospitals, and other care sites in northern New Jersey. The aim is to guide more MedExpress urgent care patients to an Atlantic Health System facility when further care beyond the urgent care setting is needed. Conversely, MedExpress locations will act as an extension of Atlantic Health System for urgent care …
Read More
Hep A Outbreaks Are Now Surging in Five States
Ohio has joined Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Indiana in declaring an outbreak of hepatitis A. Michigan has the most confirmed cases with 843. Ohio has “only” 79, but that’s twice as many as the state saw all last year. Community health departments are requesting thousands of doses of hep A vaccine in the hope of stemming the tide. Given the proximity of the states, the presumption on the part of health officials is that …
Read More
Youth Concussions May Be More Common than We Thought
More U.S. high school students self-report having had a concussion than is reflected in data from hospitals and school systems, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 15% of participants in the CDC’s latest Youth Risk Behavior Study (YRBS) say they have experienced at least one concussion related to sports or physical activity over a 1-year period. That prevalence, equating to 2.5 million children, is higher than what’s …
Read More
Nurse Practitioners Are More in Demand by Recruiters than Most Physician Specialties
Family physicians and psychiatrists are the most in-demand physicians and healthcare providers overall when it comes to recruiting assignments, but nurse practitioners are now third on the list, according to a report from MerrittHawkins, a subsidiary of AMN Healthcare. The authors attribute the sharp rise of nurse practitioners among recruiters seeking to fill positions to the growing number of retail clinics—and the ongoing growth of urgent care. In fact, “urgent care” was used as a …
Read More
Southern Cal Keeps Searching for Ways to Get Patients Out of the ED and into Urgent Care
Visits to emergency rooms continue to go up as hospital admissions drop in southern California, suggesting that either many of those flocking to the ED don’t need to be there or patients who need beds aren’t getting them, according to a new series of articles published in the Whittier Daily News. Either way, it would seem wider, acuity-appropriate use of urgent care resources would reduce the volume while increasing efficiency of care. Another solution being …
Read More
Membership Fee-Based Practices Are on the Rise
Membership fee-based medical practices are proving to be an attractive option for patients and families that are uninsured, according to an article just published in the Chicago Tribune. Such practices don’t take insurance at all, but charge their “members” a monthly fee for unlimited office visits, some related services, and discounts on medications and lab tests. At MedLogic, one practice cited in the article as an example, that fee is roughly $140 a month. Fees …
Read More