If you are reading this, you should be a member of UCA. No cheating…keep reading. The Urgent Care Association (UCA) is your representative organization. Whether you are a practice administrator, biller, owner, physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner, UCA is doing the heavy lifting on your behalf to build the foundation of this industry and discipline. Consider the following: UCA was founded six years ago with the vision to be the catalyst for the recognition …
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January 2010
Insights In Images
The patient is a 2 ½-year-old child whose parents report recurrent episodes of abdominal pain without vomiting or diarrhea. On exam, you note fullness of the abdomen. 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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73-year-old woman with foreign body lodged in hand after fall
The patient is a 73-year-old woman who presents with a foreign body (a piece of wood, specifically) sticking out of a scratch on her hand. She reports that she fell in her yard. On examination, you discover that she also has local pain and swelling of the left wrist. View the x-ray taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.
Read MoreUrgent Care Clinic Evaluation: A Case Study
By Julie Wright, MBA, CMPE Introduction The steady growth of new urgent care centers (UCC) has garnered publicity and caught the eyes of entrepreneurial thinkers across the country. As medical groups have become more responsive to patient needs, and as patients have become independent, urgent care centers have found their niche in the market. UCCs are an important addition to our healthcare system and have been growing in popularity for both patient and practitioner for …
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Identifying and Treating Superficial Fungal Infections in the Urgent Care Setting
Urgent message: Rashes often lead patients to seek relief in the urgent care center. The ability to differentiate among common, superficial fungal infections and to select the most appropriate treatment or refer is an important skill to master. Kosta G. Skandamis, MD and George Skandamis, MD Introduction Superficial fungal infections are among the most common skin conditions seen in the urgent care setting. Dermatophytes are the most common type of fungi that infect and survive …
Read More‘Responsible Leadership:’ Questions and Answers
Q. “I’m a physician. I’ve paid my dues. Isn’t it enough to provide good care for my patients?” Q. “I’m an owner. I have a business to run, decisions to make, money to stake. Don’t I call the shots here?” Q. “I’m a manager, I have spreadsheets to analyze, schedules to make, sick calls … with all responsibilities, how can I be expected to find time to be a leader?” Q. “I’m a front desk …
Read MoreUsing Fallback Options to Your Advantage
Abstracts in Urgent Care: December, 2009
Clinical Predictors of Pneumonia Among Children with Wheezing Key point: The routine use of chest radiography for children with wheezing but without fever should be discouraged. Citation: Mathews B, Shah S, Cleveland RH, et al. Clinical predictors of pneumonia among children with wheezing. Pediatrics. 2009; 124(1): e29-e36. A prospective cohort study was performed with children < 21 year of age who were evaluated in the ED, were found to have wheezing on examination, and had …
Read MoreSo Here’s What I’ve Learned…
John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I am always amazed by the myriad of personalities encountered on any given day in the urgent care center or emergency room, at the office, or even when simply out and about. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to learn a few things from the thousands of patients I’ve treated and the remarkable individuals I’ve met along the way. How is it that some people with serious acute or …
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