StuWilli, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Hiring the Best Occupational Health Sales Professionals

Do you hire an experienced salesperson and train him or her in occupational health, or hire an occupational health professional and train that person in sales? The former brings sales experience but needs to learn the “product;” the latter brings product knowledge but needs to learn fundamental sales skills. Given this choice, my answer is the former. It is easier to train an experienced salesperson in product knowledge than vice versa. However, there are numerous …

The “O-Ring” in Medical Malpractice Cases

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP The moment is forever etched in my mind. It occurred while I was in my fourth year of medical school during a radiology rotation in Scottsdale, AZ. I was doing everything I could not to fall asleep while sitting in the dark film-reading room, listening to a tonally flat radiologist dictate plain film reports. I got up to splash some cold water on my face and as I was …

Playing to Win: Maximizing Profits in Urgent Care

Urgent message: The financial health of your practice depends on a balanced approach that takes into account both increasing income and reducing expenses. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, Experity From an economic perspective, the independent urgent care owner/operator has a dual goal: to build the long-term value of the medical practice while maximizing cash that can be taken out of the business in the form of income. To achieve both of these goals—to expand revenues …

Creating a Health Surveillance Product Line

Urgent message: Keeping patients able to perform their jobs is critical to the success of an urgent care occupational medicine program. Donna Lee Gardner, RN, MS, MBA To best meet the needs of employers, an urgent care occupational medicine (UCOM) clinic should feature five basic product lines: • health surveillance • injury/loss management • rehabilitation • prevention services • on-site services This article will address the first of these product lines, health surveillance; the other …

Minor Traumatic Brain Injury: Applying the Evidence to Urgent Care

Urgent message: While few data specific to the urgent care setting exist, applying the medical evidence gleaned from other acute care settings can enable the clinician to effect positive outcomes in patients presenting with symptoms indicative of minor TBI. Joseph Toscano, MD Head trauma is among the most important problems evaluated in acute-care medicine. Estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that each year in the Unites States, approximately 1.4 million individuals …

Notes From the Field

Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP I write to you from the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand, where I just participated in the first-ever international conference for urgent care. Representatives from all over the world joined to share ideas and experiences of their journeys into the development of urgent care as a discipline and an industry. This international dialogue broadens our understanding of the clinical and market forces driving this global phenomenon, and strengthens our individual …

53-year-old woman with limited motion and pain in knee

The patient is was a 53-year-old female who experienced a fall, landing on her knee, several hours before presenting. Her knee is stable and she is able to bear weight on the affected leg, though there is mildly decreased range of motion due to generalized pain in the area. You note that the pain is not over the patella, however. There is no fluid in the knee. View the image taken and consider what your …

38-year-old with progressive abdominal pain

The patient is a healthy 38-year-old who presents with progressive abdominal pain. There is no fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. There are no peritoneal signs. Pulse is 55, and blood pressure is 118/50. The only remarkable finding when the history is taken is that the patient had corrective heart surgery as a child. View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis would be.

March 2008

Developing Data: March, 2008

As 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: How do patients view the importance of “emotional support” from …