StuWilli, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Managing Employee Performance: A Path to Clinical and Business Excellence

By Marty Martin, PsyD, MPH, MA Imagine a patient who walks into an urgent-care center feeling as many patients do – sick, tired, and irritable. But as soon as the patient arrives, the receptionist greets him warmly and with respect. As the patient sits down in the waiting room, the receptionist lets him know how long the wait might be. When the receptionist invites the man back to the treatment area, he is greeted warmly …

Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

Heard the adage, “You’ve got to spend money to make money?” Of course you have, and chances are you subscribe to that notion. Well, not so fast. You should spend money on marketing your occupational medicine services, but you can spend it judiciously. Only so much new business can be generated from direct sales; new business must be supplemented with business that is generated through marketing activities that do not rely on face-to-face communication. If …

A Tale of Two Applicants

John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP It was March, and third-year residents all over the country were sending out applications for employment. It was, as Charles Dickens penned, the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the applicant’s spring of hope, most had everything before them’ James and Ashley were no exception. James, from a prestigious East Coast family practice residency, learned during his first …

The Case of a 53-Year-Old Female with Headache and Eye Pain

Headaches are both common and challenging, accounting for 4% of ED visits and comprising the eighth most-common complaint seen by primary care physicians. This frequency can create a false sense of security, as there are numerous life-threatening etiologies hiding in the “haystack.” In this month’s case, our patient was a bounceback on her first visit, having previously seen her PCP and an urgent care doctor. In addition to a brief discussion of headaches and their …

Assessing Patients in the Wake of Motor Vehicle Accidents

Urgent message: Patients presenting to urgent care in the wake of a motor vehicle accident have self-selected their treatment setting. However, it is imperative to maintain vigilance for potentially serious and even life-threatening injuries that may not be apparent. Gloria I. Kim, MD and Jill C. Miller, MD According to the National Center for Health Statistics, motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) accounted for nearly 5 million ED visits in 2006. The diverse injuries may be temporary, …

H1N1: The Sequel

Unless you have spent the entire summer on Gilligan’s Island, I assume everyone remains attuned to the daily reports on H1N1 streaming from every which way but loose. While the prevailing opinion is that the flu season will be Superbad, it remains difficult to predict how things will play out. We will be dedicating the October issue of JUCM to pandemic flu planning, though given the likelihood of an early spike of flu, there are …

September 2009

Developing Data: September, 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 data from this landmark survey, to which 436 urgent care centers responded. In this issue: What clinical staff is working in urgent care centers?

Clinical Challenge: September, 2009

A 62-year-old female presents to the urgent care center with a three-week history of a pruritic facial rash that initiated on one cheek, then spread to the rest of the face. The patient states the rash got worse after sun exposure. Initially, she self-treated with cold cream, Eucerin, and other over-the-counter moisturizers that did not help. Eventually, the patient tried a topical hydrocortisone cream that made the rash much worse. You note there is no …

82-year-old man injured from falling to his back

The patient is an 82-year-old man who presents after having fallen backwards and landing on his back. He did not lose consciousness; nor did he vomit. The patient enters the clinic using a walker, which he reports using on a regular basis. Examination reveals an abrasion over his forehead and over the anterior right tibia. The neurological exam shows no acute changes. The patient is specifically tender over the shoulder, but there is no spiny …