Practice Management
The patient is a young child with three days of constipation with a non-specific history of abdominal pain. On exam, the child is asleep. The abdomen is easily palpable and soft. Physical exam reveals no other remarkable factors. View the x-ray taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.
Read MoreAs an emerging distinct practice environment, urgent care is in the early stages of building a data set specific to its norms and practices. In Developing Data, JUCM will offer results not only from UCA’s annual benchmarking surveys, but also from research conducted elsewhere to present an expansive view of the healthcare marketplace in which urgent care seeks to strengthen its presence. In this issue: What is the relationship between wait times and the comfort …
Read MoreDAVID STERN, MD (Practice Velocity) Q.My office has started to provide urgent care. Should these services be reimbursed at a higher price than for our family practice services? Is there a different fee schedule? Question submitted by Nicole Phelps, First Health Medical, Fresno, CA A.Here is the scoop on coding and reimbursement for urgent care: Some payors will pay more for urgent care services over primary care services, but you will almost cer- tainly need …
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The patient is a 23-year-old white woman with a medical history significant for asthma as a teenager who presents with “bruising on her legs and belly.” The patient reports that the affected areas became red and started \”stinging\” approximately three weeks ago, accompanied by “some small blisters.” At the time, she attributed the symptoms to sunburn. Gradually, however, the areas evolved into darker \”bruises\” that have now been present for about two weeks. She denies …
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The patient is a 13-year-old male who presented to urgent care after taking a fall while running; he landed on his outstretched left hand. Upon examination, you find tenderness in the snuffbox and observe swelling around the wrist. Otherwise, the findings are unremarkable. View the x-ray taken and consider what your next steps would be.
Read MoreCustomer service is a trendy theme in virtually every business these days. However, the gap between “woulda, shoulda, coulda” and reality is invariably significant. Simply put, the concept of customer service is given universal lip service, but it is rarely incorporated into the fabric of an urgent care clinic. An effective patient service program requires five core elements: planning, training, execution, evaluation, and reward/recognition. Planning Your program should have a well-designed plan that addresses train- …
Read MoreThis patient, a 34-year-old male whose pre and post-reduction x-rays are shown here (Figure 1 and Figure 2), presented to urgent care after sustaining an axial injury to his fourth left finger while playing a weekend game of football. FIGURE 1. PRE-REDUCTION Reduction proved physically chal- lenging to more than one practi- tioner. A physician who happened to be on site tried unsuccessfully to reduce the dislocation at the time it occurred, then recommended the …
Read MoreThe 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. In addition, you discover that she has local pain and swelling of the left wrist. View the x-ray taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
Read MoreThe patient is a 2-year-old girl who experienced a blow to the left foot when she jumped from an unspecified height while playing. The parents were unaware at the time the injury occurred, but toward evening the girl refused to apply weight to her left foot. On exam, the foot is mildly swollen and tender. Otherwise, there are no remarkable findings. View the x-ray taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis and next steps …
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