Harris Fleming, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

COVID Cases Are Up, but New Data Offer Evidence on How to Keep Patients Out of the Hospital

As with all things related to COVID-19, early efforts to treat patients sufficiently to avoid hospitalization had the appearance of throwing the proverbial spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck. Over time, data started to illuminate which approaches offered the most promise. Now, with multiple states tracking a gradual uptick in both positive cases and hospitalizations as fall approaches, new research published in Reviews in Medical Virology supplements existing data showing that nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) …

Data on Accident-Prone States Hold Hidden Clues to Help You Bring in More Patients

The topline data may barely be of interest to the urgent care provider or operator, but the results of a study conducted by Journo Research and published in the Daily Independent in Phoenix reveal that Arizona is the most accident-prone state in the nation. The methodology used to arrive at that conclusion could be invaluable, though, as the research was based on an analysis of online search data related directly to urgent care. In fact, …

The Most Common Injuries Seen in the ED Could Be Managed in Urgent Care. Why Aren’t They?

You could probably guess what many of the most common injuries presenting to the emergency room are. Seeing just how big the numbers are might give you pause, however, especially when you consider how many urgent care centers could be managing those patients—and taking in the associated revenue while helping to improve overcrowding in the ED and lowering healthcare spending in the United States. According to a post by Patient Care Online, culled from data …

Risk for Overdose Is High Among U.S. Healthcare Workers. Could You Spot Those at Risk?

It’s well documented that the United States has been in the grips of a narcotics addiction crisis for too long. Less established, until now, is the toll it might be taking on healthcare workers who themselves may be addicts and at risk for overdose and resultant death. Unfortunately, a report just published by the Annals of Internal Medicine reveals that those working in a healthcare setting are actually more likely to die from an overdose …

Perfect Timing: How Urgent Care and APP’s May Be Fueling Each Other’s Growth

New data from unrelated sources indicate that nurse practitioners and physician assistants (known collectively as advanced practice providers, or APPs) and urgent care may be intersecting more frequently, and more beneficially, than ever before. While the nursing education group Nursing Process notes that emergency departments/urgent care centers are among the top 12 settings in which NPs are in high demand, an article published by US News & World Report puts NPs in the top spot …

There Are Few Consequences for Patients Who Owe You Money. How Can You Protect Yourself?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has instituted policies wherein outstanding medical debt under $500 is no longer reportable to credit reporting companies like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. While that may offer some degree of protection to healthcare consumers who have been billed exorbitant charges by freestanding emergency rooms and other facilities infamous for hitting patients with “hidden” charges, it takes away one more incentive for deadbeats to make good on their obligations—and urgent care operators …

Years After Infection, Patients Are Grappling with New COVID-Related Disability. Be Vigilant

As long as 2 years after recovering from COVID-19, some patients who were healthy before becoming infected now experience blood clots, diabetes, neurological complications, fatigue, and mental health issues thought to be related to the virus. The authors of research published in the journal Nature measured disability adjusted life years (DALY) in patients who had recovered from COVID-19 or developed long COVID, with each DALY unit reflecting 1 year of healthy life lost due to …

Patients Are More Likely to Trust ‘Independent’ Practices—and the Reason Is Interesting

It’s well-established that patients value urgent care because it’s typically much more expedient than the emergency room, and certainly primary care practices. Proximity and savvy marketing may help you differentiate yourself from competitors who offer those same advantages, but are there even more basic considerations that draw patients to one locations vs another? New data released by Software Advice suggest that patients who choose independent healthcare practices vs those owned by large corporations do so …

New Regimens, Similar Conclusions for PrEP. Do They Change Anything for Urgent Care?

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reported 4 years ago that oral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) reduced the likelihood of HIV infection in adults at increased risk for infection. At the time, offering PrEP in urgent care was a controversial prospect; while there was little debate as to the public health benefits, some UC operators found the complex side-effects profile daunting for a setting largely dedicated to episodic care. Now a meta-analysis of newer PrEP regimens …

AP’s—Not to Be Confused with PA’s—Present Legal and Coding Challenges for Urgent Care Operators

The challenges of staffing rural urgent care centers has spurred some operators to get creative in order to meet patient demand. The question is, are some getting a little too creative in billing for their services? These murky waters have led to two individuals—an urgent care physician-owner and his office manager—being charged with healthcare fraud in Missouri. The United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri alleges that the pair “conspired to make false statements …

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