StuWilli, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

April 2011

The Missing Key: Enhancing Care by Understanding Patients’ Emotions

Urgent message: Even with the utmost attention to proper protocols, current data, and vast clinical experience, patient emotions are the unforeseeable x factor in a positive encounter (and, sometimes, even positive outcomes). Author: Bob Stuart, MD and Bob Bichler, RN As providers, we have been trying to understand how we can be more helpful and effective with the patients to which we provide care. How can I best provide care which will feel most satisfying …

A New Era for Urgent Care

Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP Spring is here. It’s time to shake off the cobwebs of winter and take a fresh look toward the future. With clear eyes, and a little more daylight, our focus is more acute, and our visionary juices start flowing. The Urgent Care Association has always been a forward-thinking organization, trying to be a step ahead in a dynamic healthcare arena. Over the last seven years, UCA membership has grown sharply, …

Developing Data: April, 2011

In each issue on this page, we report on research from or relevant to the emerging urgent care marketplace. This month, we offer a first look at data from the 2010 Urgent Care Benchmarking Survey Results. The data are based on the responses of 209 U.S. urgent care centers, 78.8% of which were UCA members. The survey was limited to “full-fledged urgent care centers,” the qualifications of which included accepting walk-ins during all hours of …

S9088 Coding for Medicare or Medicaid, Coding for SVT, and Coding 99211

DAVID STERN, MD (Practice Velocity) Q.In one of your articles concerning the S9088 code (services provided in an urgent care center), you indicate this code cannot be billed to Medicare or Medicaid. However, I read in another source that S9088 and S9083 (global fee for urgent care centers) had been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for billing these services. What is the current status of these codes as they relate …

Using Workplace-based Education as a Marketing Tool

Offering a key decision-maker a tour of your facility is often helpful in signing a new client. But what about the scores of individuals who work for that company? They’re not likely to come traipsing through your clinic en masse, hungry to learn about your services. Remember what the infamous criminal Willie Sutton said when a reporter asked him why he robbed banks: “That’s where the money is.” Similarly, if you want to reach the …

Competitive Analysis to Stand Above the Crowd

Urgent message: Providing high-quality care and good service is not necessarily enough to attract and keep patients, especially if those patients can take their pick from among several urgent care centers. More and more, urgent care operators need to be aware of how their competitors operate. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity All too often, urgent care entrepreneurs operate in a vacuum. They feel that if they offer a well-appointed facility with good signage, …

Clinical Challenge: April, 2011

The patient is a 4-year-old child who presents after experiencing a blow to the forearm while taking a fall. He is other- wise well-appearing, and other than pain in the affected arm the examination is unremarkable. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.

Giant Cell Arteritis: A Clinical Review for Urgent Care Providers

Urgent message: Giant cell arteritis is an under-recognized and easily missed vasculitis of older adults, a challenging but “can’t miss” diagnosis. The urgent care clinician must be able to recognize this entity sometimes referred to as the “great masquerader” and be comfortable initiating timely emergency treatment. Ryan C. Jacobsen MD, EMT-P Giant cell arteritis (GCA), more commonly known as temporal arteritis, is an under-recognized vasculitis of older adults that can have potentially devastating consequences, most …