StuWilli, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Simplify Communication to Get Your Message Across

I routinely receive more than 75 e-mails every day, have about 100 cable television stations to choose from, can look up virtually any topic on the Internet, receive scores of mail pieces each week, and have an untold number of voice messages daily. It is not surprising that the average person is receptive to but a fraction of information before them. Thus, there is a dilemma: How do I get my message across in such …

Utilizing Social Media to Drive Visits to Your Website and Urgent Care Center

In Creating a Web Presence to Raise Awareness of Urgent Care (JUCM, July/August 2009), we described how a well-designed website, optimized for retrieval by major search engines, enables highly targeted and localized promotion of an urgent care center. But establishing a web presence is just the beginning; driving “clicks” to the website and “feet” to the center is enhanced by creating “buzz” in online communities. Historically, word-of-mouth – spread in-person or by telephone – has …

Preparing for Pandemic Influenza in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Between the current – and still growing – volume of H1N1 flu cases and fast-approaching influenza season, the urgent care physician will be challenged to distinguish among a variety of common cold and influenza-like conditions. Gary Klein, MD, MPH, MBA, CHS-V, FAADM Introduction The mainstream media have certainly accomplished the mission of alerting the public to the dangers of H1N1 flu – perhaps to the point that many are tempted to dismiss their …

October 2009

What can YOU do for YOU?

I know this may sound like a funny way to start a column. It’s a bit confrontational perhaps, maybe even a little insulting. Why is this guy calling me out on the carpet here? What did I ever do to him? I have been involved in organized medicine for almost 10 years, at varying levels of responsibility. If I learned one thing alone the way, it is this: If you want id one, you better …

Coding for I&D, DTaP, and Procedures Included in the E/M Code

Q. An urgent care that I do billing for has presented a question I would like your input on. A sales rep has stated that urgent care centers are now administering DTaP in urgent care, and, if so, what is the difference between the reimbursement of the Td (90714) and the DTaP (90715)? Lynn Gray, Eastern Hills Medical Billing, Cincinnati, OH A. Patients may use urgent care centers when they have difficulty getting timely appointment …

Clinical Challenge: October, 2009

A 57-Year-Old Woman with Acute Pain After a Fall The aptient is a 57-year-old woman who presented to urgent care complaining of severe pain in her right foot, leg, hip, and elbow. She reported that she fell three to four hours prior to presentation while outside walking her dog; she was “tripped up” in the pet’s leash. She presented ambulatory, but was unable to bear any weight on her right leg. Past medical history …

80-year-old man suffering lower back pain

The patient is an 80-year-old man who presents with a two-week history of low back pain. He is hemodynamically stable and has a normal neurological exam. His personal medical history reveals hypertension, for which he is being treated. Blood pressure is 140/80, pulse 63. View the x-ray taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.

Man presents with foot pain after falling from ladder

The patient is a male who presents complaining of pain in his feet. He claims he fell from a ladder. He declines to provide further details, except to say that the distance he fell was not high. View the x-ray taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.