The patient is a 61-year-old male who presents with back pain. The patient’s abdomen is soft. Vitals are stable. 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.
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July/August 2010
In the Beginning: Medical Express Care, Dunmore, Pennsylvania
(In the Beginning recounts the real-life experiences of urgent care operators who have taken the initiative to hang out the proverbial shingle and open a new start-up center. It will be an occasionally recurring feature available exclusively in the digital edition of JUCM.) Ask Dr. Donna Eget about the greatest benefit to owning an urgent care center and she doesn’t miss a beat; to her, it is time—time with family and time with patients. The …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care: July/August, 2010
Validation of the ABCD2 Score for Predicting Stroke Risk After Transient Ischemic Attack Key point: An ABCD2 score > 2 is associated with significantly increased risk for stroke within 90 days. Citation: Tsivgoulis G, Stamboulis E, Sharma VK, et al. Multicenter external validation of the ABCD2 score in triaging TIA patients. Neurology. 2010; 74(17): 1351-1357. The ABCD2 score has been endorse internationally as a simple method for identifying patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) who …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: July/August, 2010
In each issue on this page, we report on research from or relevant to the emerging urgent care marketplace. This month, we provide new data relevant to many urgent care providers’ marketing messages – namely, hospital performance on wait times during visits to the emergency room. These data reflect the percentage of visits in which wait times met pre-defined targets. Source: Horwitz LI, Green J, Bradley EH. U.S. emergency department performance on wait time and …
Read MoreLearn How to Articulate What You Are Really Selling
Coding for Splints, Modifier–QW, Routine Rechecks, and Language Barriers to Efficient Coding
DAVID STERN, MD (Practice Velocity) Q. For splinting, our physicians use Ortho-Glass. At one time we billed out by the inch for it, but now some are saying that you cannot bill for it, as it is included in the E/M level charge. This does not make sense to me, so we’re looking for an expert opinion. Can you help me with this coding dilemma or point me in the right direction? Question submitted by …
Read MoreTransitions
John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I participated in my first triathlon in 18 years last weekend in a town named for a card game. Show Low sits at 6,412 feet at the base of the White Mountains in northern Arizona. Remember the first scene in Chariots of Fire, where a group of men are running barefoot, effortlessly through the crashing waves on a beautiful beach with the orchestra playing an inspiring melody in the …
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Agencies Can Extend Clinical Recruiting and Staffing Capabilities
Urgent message: Medical staffing agencies extend an urgent care center’s recruiting and staffing capabilities with solutions to fill all operating hours with qualified providers. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity Introduction The United States faces a shortage of primary care and emergency medicine physicians – the provider force feeding urgent care. When an urgent care center has an insufficient number of providers to adequately cover its schedule, the patient experience suffers due to extended …
Read MoreClinical Challenge: July/August, 2010
In each issue, JUCM will challenge your diagnostic acumen with a glimpse of x-rays, electrocardiograms, and photographs of dermatologic conditions that real urgent care patients have presented with. If you would like to submit a case for consideration, please e-mail the relevant materials and presenting information to [email protected]. The patient is a 42-year-old who presents to urgent care after “twisting” her left foot. The patient is able to bear weight on the foot, though it …
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