Throughout history, entrepreneurs have faced harsh critics. From Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice through Oliver Stone’s movie Wall Street (“greed is good, greed works.” etc.) entrepreneurial efforts are cast in a dim light. To paraphrase Lifebook founder Job Butcher, though, “no other social system can compete with the free market, entrepreneurial system in terms of productivity, raising living standards, and creating prosperity … Yet, despite its overwhelming contributions, some elements of society still associate profit-making …
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Creating a Web Presence to Raise Awareness of Urgent Care
Urgent message: A robust – and effective – advertising campaign needs to take full advantage of all available media, with special consideration of online opportunities. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc In the past, advertising was a simple proposition; nearly everyone attached the same network television, read the same city newspapers, and searched for businesses in the Yellow Pages. But in recent years, such “mass marketing” has yielded to new marketing channels targeting the lifestyles and …
Read MoreManaging Summer Lacerations in Children
Common Lacerations of the Head
Urgent message: Effective management of head lacerations starts with hemorrhage control but also requires an understanding of appropriate use of anesthesia, the possibility of closed head or nerve injury, and vigilance for non-accidental trauma. Clayton Josephy, MD, Samuel M. Keim, MD, MS, and Paper Rosen, MD Introduction Laceration repair is a common and important responsibility of physicians in the emergency and urgent care settings. A recent review of national trends in ED visits revealed that …
Read More‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’: The Birth of a Public Health Plan
With healthcare reform imminent, the question on everyone’s mind is: “How will this impact me?” While there is almost universal support for reform – what you might call the why of a healthcare fix – there is considerable disagreement about the how, when, who, and where. While the details of reform may change a bit over the next several months, there are a few things we should consider invariable: The Democrats’ solid control of the …
Read MoreJuly/August 2009
Proper Use of 99051, and the Status of S9088
Q. Can I bill the CPT code 99051 (Services(s) provided in office during regularly scheduled, weekend, or holiday office hours, in addition to basic service) for the purpose of getting a denial? Can I bill a Medicare patient for the 99051 code if I have an advanced beneficiary notice (ABN) completed? Anonymous, Texas A. This is a very interesting question, and I am sure it will generate significant controversy. In regard to your question about …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: July/August, 2009
In early 2008, UCA revamped its annual survey in conjunction with researchers at Massachusetts general Hospital and Harvard University with the goal of assuring that the UCA Benchmarking Committee’s efforts produced a scientifically valid report. Here we present some of the findings from this landmark survey, to which 436 urgent care centers responded. In this issue: How much time do patients spend in urgent care centers, on average? These data support – and, perhaps just …
Read MoreClinical Challenge: July/August, 2009
9-year-old girl has painful breathing after falling on chest
The patient is a 9-year-old girl who presents after experiencing a fall and a blow to her right chest. She complains of pain on deep breathing. On exam, you find a pulse of 103, and SAT of 96. She is not in respiratory distress; her chest exam is clear. She has an abrasion over her right chest. The patient is generally healthy, is on no medications, and has no significant past medical history. View the …
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