Practice Management
Urgent message: Obesity continues to be a significant health problem in the United States, with more and more patients opting for a surgical solution to their own weight loss challenges. As this trend continues, urgent care providers can expect to see more patients with post bariatric surgery complaints, ranging from the typical and benign to pulmonary emboli, anastomotic leaks, and respiratory failure account. Tracey Quail Davidoff, MD, FCUCM Obesity has become one of the …
Read MoreTake a Seat—Your Patients Will Thank You Buddy Taping vs Plaster Casting in Boxer’s Fractures Efficacy of Baclofen in Back Pain Rapid Testing for Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Five- vs 10-day Treatment for Strep Throat A Better Screening Test for ACL Rupture Yijung Russell, MD Sitting During an Encounter Is an Easy Way to Increase Patient Satisfaction Key Point: If a provider sits during an encounter, the patient feels that they care more, listen more, inform …
Read MoreMost public health campaigns, with a few notable exceptions, have been abject failures. One undeniably successful example, however, has been awareness of the dangers of high blood pressure. As recently as the early 1970s, when the Framingham Study was published, there was still considerable disagreement in the medical community about the risks of untreated hypertension. But in the face of mounting evidence, it soon became clear that persistently elevated blood pressure was dangerous to a …
Read MoreUrgent message: One of the occupational medicine provider’s most difficult challenges is when a patient with a work-related injury or illness is judged ready to return to full duty, but the patient resists going back to work. Max Lebow, MD, MPH, FACEP, FACPM INTRODUCTION This article will address the problem of difficult-to-discharge patients who resist returning to full duty when their work-related injury/illness has resolved. We will discuss the process of early identification of work-reluctant …
Read MoreYou have seen all the articles about benchmarking and standard revenue cycle management metrics. The repetition of these basic articles is nauseating. This is not one of those articles. To illustrate that, let’s start by asking, what do photography, dog paddling, and apple picking have to do with your urgent care billing? Photography Standard RCM metrics are like the settings on your digital camera. Most people set the camera to Program mode (or “P” for …
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Urgent message: Brugada syndrome is a genetic disorder associated with increased incidence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. There have been cases associated with fever, viral infections, and pneumonias—all conditions urgent care clinicians treat in abundance. This case report demonstrates how urgent care providers can diagnose a potentially lethal disorder when patients are being seen for febrile illnesses. Kathleen B. Raschka, MD Case Presentation A 55-year-old male with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and …
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The patient is a 42-year-old man who presents with a symmetrical rash of palpable purpura on his legs. He also complains of a fever and arthralgia, but denies any headache or neck pain. He also discloses current infection with the hepatitis C virus. View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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The patient is a 58-year-old female who reports having an episode of syncope earlier in the day. She denies chest pain, difficulty breathing, or recent illness. She has a history of hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease. View the ECG and consider what the diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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The patient is a 17-year-old male who presents with pain and swelling in his left thumb. He reports that he fell off an all-terrain vehicle while “mudbogging,” bending the thumb back when he reached out to break his fall. View the image taken and consider what the diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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The patient is a 6-year-old boy who cried out in pain after jumping off the fourth step of the stairs in his house yesterday, landing hard on his feet. His mother reports that he has been limping ever since. She applied ice at home, hoping the pain would resolve overnight. It did not. On exam, you note the pain is located at the base of the first/second metatarsal. View the images taken and consider what …
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