Practice Management
The old axiom “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” is highly relevant in urgent care, where patients already not having the best of days are probably encountering your front desk staff and clinical team for the first time. Now a new study shows how those patients perceive the professionals they meet in your location is likely to influence their overall satisfaction, as well as their likelihood of complaining later on. …
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While there’s no way to apply stitches, start an IV, or cast a patient remotely, virtual visits may be just fine for many complaints that drive people to urgent care. A new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research shows that outcomes—defined as the need for follow-up visits for the same complaint—for some common diagnoses were no different between patients seen in person or via video hookup. In fact, that standard was met …
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Texas legislators and the Dallas Morning News have both joined the chorus of voices calling for greater regulation of how freestanding emergency rooms present themselves and bill patients. Recent news articles and editorials in the newspaper warn consumers about the high cost of mistaking a freestanding emergency room for an urgent care center, citing a $3,000 bill for out-of-network emergency room services vs a $200 charge for the same services at an urgent care center. …
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Typically, going to the emergency room costs a lot more than a trip to an urgent care center for the same complaint. You’d think insurers would be invested in getting their plan members to recognize the difference and make informed decisions accordingly. The chief medical officer of Innovation Health agrees, and revealed a “decision tree” to help patients choose wisely—and economically. Sunil Budhrani, MD, an emergency room doctor for close to 20 years who went …
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Urgent care and hospital operator Sutter Health is diversifying its efforts to reach patients in multiple settings by opening its own retail-style walk-in clinics in the Sacramento, CA area. Sutter already operated a few retail clinics housed in Rite Aid stores, along with dozens of urgent care centers. Now they’ve opened three such locations of their own in neighborhood shopping centers, with plans to open nine more in the San Francisco Bay area this summer. …
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The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on clinicians and drug makers to help fight a worldwide surge in antibiotic-resistant organisms, some of which could be just as prevalent and as dangerous as Zika and Ebola. The rate of their emergence has picked up in recent years, thanks in part to inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics. As such, the WHO has echoed the pleadings of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for clinicians …
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As we told you here, a study by Accenture found that a quarter of all healthcare consumers have fallen prey to data breaches—with half of them going on to become victims of medical identity theft. While hospitals were the most common source, other settings (including urgent care) were not immune. The Urgent Care Association (UCA) will offer tips to help you avoid such dangers in a live webinar, The Changing Landscape of Cyber Security, Thursday, …
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Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. have opted not to fight the decision a judge laid down to block their proposed merger based on the presumption that the $34 billion deal would violate antitrust laws. The two companies will continue to operate as separate entities, though the door is still open for either or both to seek other partners. Had the deal gone through, Aetna would have become a kingpin in Medicare Advantage. The implications for …
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Urgent message: When a patient says, ‘I had a bad experience,’ you should hear, ‘I know how you can improve your service.’ Adopt that mindset and you’ll start to welcome even negative feedback—and learn to use it to your advantage. Did you know there are some urgent care centers who live to get patient complaints? Before we delve into why you should adopt a similar mindset, let’s look at why an urgent care exists. In …
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