Practice Management
HCA Holdings has a lot of money to shop with—a $2.9 billion capital budget, to be exact—and is planning on using a good chunk of it to buy a bigger portion of the urgent care marketplace. Known more as a hospital company, it expects to grow its urgent care business by 67% this year, from its current 72 clinics to 120 between now and December. It will also invest more heavily in the freestanding emergency …
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While the country is locked in its annual battle against influenza, a second “bug” is creeping up and taking its toll on schools and workplaces, as well. Like the flu, norovirus picks up steam in the winter months and is especially hard—sometimes deadly—on seniors and young children. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts February will be the peak month for infection, which is characterized by intense gastrological symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, …
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The American Heart Association says February is American Heart Month. Dignity Health‒GoHealth Urgent Care is leaning into that spotlight by launching a monthlong initiative it’s calling Love Your Heart, during which patients are invited to visit one of the company’s urgent care centers for free blood pressure readings, BMI calculations, and waist circumference measurements. The company says the campaign is intended to increase awareness of cardiovascular issues and to encourage more people to “take charge …
Read MoreClinical practice guidelines have been gaining interest, along with a little ire, over the last decade. Fueled by Medicare reform, the Affordable Care Act, Meaningful Use, and value-based reimbursement models, clinical practice guideline development has been envisioned as a critical way to achieve consistent care quality in a cost-effective and evidence-based way. This is nothing new of course. I remember memorizing the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Screening Guidelines in residency in preparation for boards. …
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Mindful of the rampant overuse and abuse of opioid medications, the U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed adding four of the most common—hydrocodone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, and hydromorphone—to its list of drugs that drivers must be screened for in urine analysis tests. Following through would bring the DOT testing protocol up to date with current Health and Human Services guidelines. There’s no date set for when the proposed changes would take effect. Urgent care providers who …
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Carena, a virtual urgent care center in Seattle, has gained a healthy following among brick-and-mortar urgent care clinics around the country by “seeing” patients with fairly typical complaints like rashes and symptoms of bladder infections. The company reports that their lines are really jumping now that flu season is in full force. They, and other e-medicine providers, can’t offer flu shots, of course, but they can help patients who don’t have the flu avoid exposure …
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Would a prospective patient who lands on your homepage after a Google search or seeing one of your ads be able to tell the difference between your center and the one four blocks down? If you’re Sequoia Prompt Care in Visalia, CA they would. The first things a web visitor to their website sees, in big bold letters, is “Click here to QuickPass the waiting room!” Follow that direction and you’re taken to another screen …
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Patients visiting Lanier Urgent Care in Gainesville, GA are asked the usual questions upon arrival—plus one that’s very atypical: You wanna see the dogs? According to the centers practice administrator, 90% of patients answer “Yes!” to that question. Lanier has a pair of canines on site every day, though one of them will likely be departing to spend time in Lanier’s soon-to-open second location. Dr. Ronald Perry, president of Lanier, says the dogs have a …
Read MoreCase A 14-year-old boy presents to urgent care complaining of lateral right elbow pain that began after a fall on the playground yesterday, in which he landed on his outstretched hand. He has no significant medical or surgical history. The elbow pain is worse with range of motion. He denies any wrist or shoulder pain, and there is no head trauma. There are no paresthesias to the hand or arm. View the images taken (Figures …
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Urgent message: The incidence of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is seasonal in nature, with a peak during the winter months and a trough in the summer months. In the urgent care setting, primary concerns are risk factors for CAP, as well as current treatment and testing guidelines. Overview Pneumonia is an acute alveolar lung infection that presents with infiltrates upon chest imaging and is often accompanied by fever, cough, sputum production, shortness of breath, and physical …
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