StuWilli, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Walk-In Primary Care: What Does It Mean for Urgent Care?

Urgent message: As many primary care providers expand their hours and offer walk-in service, the lines between urgent care and primary care become blurred. To remain competitive, urgent care operators will need to more clearly define their value to patient and payers, increase the acuity of services offered to reduce duplication, and become more innovative in their service delivery and partnerships. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc Introduction For years, many primary care physicians (PCPs) have …

Do the MACRA’ena?

Corny titles aside, MACRA/MIPS is creating a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety among physician practices, and urgent care centers are no exception. I have seen a lot of urgent care news sources, including this journal, referencing the latest updates from CMS (or recent articles published by other organizations), but urgent care-specific analysis is in short supply. I frequently hear colleagues say, “Medicare is such a small percent of my business, it’s just not worth …

Intermittent Abdominal Pain and Vomiting in a Teenager: One More Urgent Cause to Consider

Urgent message: Superior mesenteric artery syndrome should be included in the differential diagnosis in children with abdominal pain and weight loss with rapid increase in linear growth. Ralph Mohty, MS3, and Michael Esmay, MD Introduction Abdominal pain is one of the most common complaints in childhood. A minor self-limited condition such as constipation or viral gastroenteritis is usually the cause, but more serious conditions need further evaluation and management.1 Chronic abdominal pain is a term …

Streamlining Management of Shared Employees Across Multiple Locations

Urgent message: Ongoing growth within the urgent care industry intensifies competition for competent professionals. “Sharing” trusted workers across multiple sites can help keep costs in check and ensure efficient practices—provided it’s done right. Andraya Carson-Hruby and Vance Daniels It is a good time to be in the urgent care business: According to the Urgent Care Association of America’s 2016 Benchmarking Report, there was a 10% increase in the number of urgent care centers across the …

Abstracts in Urgent Care- September 2017

Finding New Pathways that Protect Head Injury Patients Key point: Using an EEG-based biomarker in adult patients has potential benefit. Citation: Hanley D, Prichep LS, Bazarian J, et al. Emergency department triage of traumatic head injury using a brain electrical activity biomarker: a multisite prospective observational validation trial. Acad Emerg Med. 2017;24(5):617-627. Prior studies estimate that traumatic head injury (TBI) accounts for over 2.5 million ED visits annually in the U.S., also revealing that ED …

UCA Files Comments on Medicare QPP

The Urgent Care Association vowed to represent the industry’s interests when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final rule implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) last October. In effect, CMS imposed guidelines for clinicians participating in Medicare’s Quality Payment Program (QPP), and defined two possible pathways: the Merit-Based Payment Incentive Program (MIPS) or the Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs). UCA made good on its promise this week by …

Can Hospitals Find Salvation by Offering Primary Care in the ED?

Hospitals and health systems have been taking a hard look at how they can maintain financial stability in recent years. As you’ve read here, many are venturing into urgent care, both on and off campus. Now, some are taking another step toward becoming everyday community health providers by offering, essentially, primary care in their emergency rooms. An article in Modern Healthcare details how one of them, Carolinas Healthcare System, realized the same old way of …

Be Mindful of Dates of Service When Coding for Flu Shots—or Get Claims Denied

Among the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new codes is one that’s likely to be confusing as patients start coming in for flu shots. A quadrivalent vaccine made and distributed by Sequirus is available for reporting, but if billing staff use the corresponding code, 90756 (Influenza virus vaccine, quadrivalent [ccIIV4], derived from cell cultures, subunit, antibiotic free, 0.5mL dosage, for intramuscular use) before January 1, 2018, the claim will be denied. Instead, they’re advised …

2017 Urgent Care Buyer's Guide

Smartphone Diagnostics Could Make Telemedicine, Lab Testing More Accessible

Telemedicine is gaining traction in many walks of medicine, though some providers still may be concerned they don’t know how to get started. In addition, many practices are looking at ways to offer more tests on site. The next wave of smartphone capabilities could be the next step forward in both respects. Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a device capable of processing samples of blood, saliva, or urine remotely using the light …