Practice Management
The patient, a 17-year-old male, presented with a family member to an urgent care center with a history of chest pain for 2 weeks He denied shortness of breath, radiating pain, fever, or any other similar symptoms. His vital signs were stable.
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The patient, a 20-year-old male, had an incidental finding on an x-ray of his right knee. View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis would be.
Read MoreWe’ve upgraded the digital edition of JUCM to give you a better reading experience! We think you’re going to like it. Check out the features below and let us know by writing to [email protected] Beautiful reading experience, wherever you are – a beautiful digital edition that looks and feels like a real book, on whichever device you choose. Searchable and zoomable content – You can use the search function to locate relevant key words or …
Read MoreThese data from the 2010 Urgent Care Survey are based on responses of 1,691 US urgent care centers; 32% were UCA members. The survey was limited to “full-fledged urgent care centers” accepting walk-ins during all hours of operation; having a licensed provider and x-ray and lab equipment onsite; the ability to administer IV fluids and perform minor procedures; and having minimal business hours of seven days per week, four hours per day. In this issue: …
Read MoreThe patient, a 40-year-woman, presented with a trauma to the left wrist. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
Read MoreDAVID STERN, MD (Practice Velocity) Q. We have a patient with several lacerations to both of his hands. On his left hand, we sutured a total of three lacerations that have a grand total of 3.5 cm and on his right hand, we sutured on laceration with a total of 3.0 cm. What is the best way to code this? A. Assuming that all the procedures were simple wound repairs, you would simply add the …
Read MoreJOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Maybe you read my columns in the two previous issues of JUCM and had a brief moment of self-awareness. Maybe one of your co-workers put them in your mailbox. Did you actually ask your co-workers and subordinates if you were the “cancer” I was talking about? They are not going to be honest. They care little about you and fear for their jobs, and so, are hardly going to …
Read MoreED Physicians Vary Widely in Use of Head CT Key point: ED physicians vary widely, by as much as 300% for patients who presented with atraumatic headache, in their ordering patterns for head CTs. Citation: Prevedello LM, Raja AS, Zane RD, et al. Variation in use of head computed tomography by emergency physicians. Am J Med. 2012; 125(4): 356-364. A research team led by Dr. Luciano Prevedello, a fellow at the Center for Evidence-Based Imaging …
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Urgent Message: Getting local media attention can drive patients to an urgent care center’s doors. Applying best PR practices can produce results and conserve marketing dollars. MARCIA HORN NOYES Despite the meteoric rise in urgent care center openings over the past decade, media outlets indicate that story pitches received from urgent care providers pale in comparison to those submitted by hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Yet urgent care medicine remains fertile ground for quick and compelling …
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Urgent Message: Fever plus back pain should alert a provider to a potentially serious condition that warrants further workup. ERICA MARSHBURN, BS, BA, and JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Many high-risk conditions can present as back pain and back pain is a very frequent presenting complaint in urgent care medicine. When the back pain is associated with fever of unknown etiology or if it occurs in someone with a history of receiving intravenous (IV) …
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