StuWilli, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Uncle Sam Picks Up Two-Thirds of the Healthcare Check

Even as private citizens continue to pay a greater percentage of their paychecks for healthcare, new data say that the government is picking up the biggest portion of healthcare spending overall—64.3% as of 2013. Of particular note, Medicare spending rose about 2.5% between 1999 and 2013. The data, which are published online in the American Journal of Public Health, reflect direct government payments for Medicare, Medicaid, and other public programs (eg, the Veterans Health Administration, …

Forearm Pain in a 12-Year-Old Patient After a Fall

A 12-year-old girl presents to an urgent care center with pain in her right forearm. She reports that the pain started the previous evening when she tripped on a toy left out by her 2-year-old brother. The pain is worse with range of motion. She says she does not have any numbness. She has no other injuries. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis would be.

Balance Billing Takes a Hit in Tallahassee

The Florida legislature’s House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee has put its stamp of approval on a proposal to protect patients from surprise charges after discharge from the emergency room. As written, the bill would make insurers pay for emergency services and include an arbitration process to resolve differences between insurers and healthcare providers; patients themselves would be removed from that process. Several states have already enacted similar legislation, with still more—including Florida—moving toward doing the …

Think Tank Says Aetna–Humana Deal Would Make Seniors Pay More

The Center for American Progress (CAP), a Washington, DC-based think tank, says senior citizens will be forced to pay higher Medicare Advantage premiums if Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana goes through. Aetna currently holds 7% of that market and Humana 19%. While their combined share of the entire current Medicare market would still be just 8%, Anthem has also moved to buy Cigna Corp. The combined effect of such deals could cut competition and result …

New Study: Youth Sports Injuries Always in Season

Visits to the emergency room for sports injuries in children between the ages of 5 and 18 years rose every year from 2001 to 2013, with three quarters of those injuries attributed to football, soccer, baseball, and basketball, according to new data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. All told, there were nearly half a million emergent injuries in 100 hospital emergency departments during the study period—translating to an …

Harris Poll is Good News for Docs, Great Intel for Urgent Care

A new Harris Poll found that 88% of patients are “satisfied” with their last visit to the doctor, with 53% saying they are “very satisfied.” Digging deeper, though, you find data that can make or break that perception. A provider’s knowledge, training, and expertise were the most important attributes, but more than half of respondents also said the doctor’s ability to access their medical history, time spent with the doctor, and good communication matter significantly. …

Can Urgent Care Help Abate Astronomical Spike in Health Costs?

Families in the U.S. could be spending up to 45% of their household income on healthcare costs within the next two decades, according to a new study from the Pioneer Institute of Boston. The best-case scenario, according to the report, would be that health-insurance premiums rise by 4% annually, along with the same rate of increase for out-of-pocket costs. By 2035, those expenses would consume nearly a quarter of the family’s budget, up from 16% in …

‘Patient Experience’ Trend May Favor Urgent Care

Healthcare payment reform may be giving urgent care a leg up on the local emergency room, according to a new white paper from Press Ganey. While positive “patient experience” scores enable hospitals to collect greater reimbursement, tight margins require sharper focus on clinical care than ever before. In addition, pressure to keep household expenses down is pushing many patients (ie, customers) to consider their options more carefully, especially for lower-acuity complaints like those tailor-made for …

CDC, ACP Warn Against Wayward Antibiotic Prescribing

Old habits and the pleadings of sick patients continue to move physicians to prescribe antibiotics for patients who don’t actually need them, according to a new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Physicians. Both are urging physicians to employ antibiotics sparingly during cold and flu season. Antibiotics are prescribed at more than 100 million adult ambulatory care visits every year—including visits to urgent care—but only about half …

Take the Blinders Off Your Eyes—and Ears

URGENT MESSAGE: Over time, urgent care operators become desensitized by what they see and hear every day—a serious challenge to continual improvement and, therefore, success. In this second installment of her guest blog on “blinders,” Lou Ellen Horwitz describes how what is said in an urgent care center influences patient perceptions. She provides practical suggestions on coaching staff to be mindful of their words, volume, and audience when engaging in business and nonbusiness conversation. Lou …