StuWilli, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS Changes Effective October 1, 2016

Because it has been 4 years since the last annual update of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) and because 2016 is the first year for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make updates to ICD-10-CM, CMS made many edits to the classification’s code set. On October 1, 2016, International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) will include 3651 new codes and 487 revisedcodes,1 and …

Ten-Day Dry Cough in a 36-Year-Old Man

Case A 36-year-old man presents to an urgent care center with a dry cough that he has had for the preceding 10 days. He has mild dyspnea. He has no rhinorrhea, fever, chest pain, blood in the urine or stool, or lower-extremity pain or swelling. He has no history of previous illnesses. He smokes cigarettes, occasionally drinks alcohol, and has a remote history of intravenous drug use. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider …

Clavicular Pain in a 23-Year-Old

Case A 23-year-old man presents to an urgent care with pain at the distal end of his left clavicle that began the previous day after he fell onto his left shoulder while mountain biking. His pain is constant and sharp and worse when moving his left arm and shoulder. He does not have fever, vomiting, chest pain, shortness of breath, or abdominal pain, and he has no head injury, no head or neck pain, and …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – September 2016

SEAN M. McNEELEY, MD The American College of Gastroenterology Publishes New Guidelines for Treating Diarrheal Disease Key point: New guidelines on treating diarrheal disease are available from the American College of Gastroenterology. Citation: Riddle MS, DuPont HL, Connor BA. ACG clinical guideline: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of acute diarrheal infections in adults. Am J Gastroenterol. 2016;111:602–622. The authors of this report note that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 47.8 million cases of …

The Rise of Medical Scribes: A Fit for Urgent Care?

Urgent message: As urgent care operators look for ways to speed patient flow and raise visit revenue, medical scribes may be a solution for increasing provider efficiency and improving documentation accuracy. How this article helps you: provides information useful in deciding whether your center would benefit from hiring scribes. Introduction Urgent care is unique among health-care delivery models in its focus on providing quick turnaround. To get patients in and out of the center in …

Midline Neck Mass

Urgent message: Swelling of the neck is a common problem seen in the urgent care setting. Etiologies range from infectious to lymphatic to malignant. If serious conditions are not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, complications may lead to airway compromise, sepsis, or even death. How this article helps you: alerts you to uncommon presentations of neck masses. Introdution Swelling in various areas of the neck is frequently seen in urgent care centers. Most …

HIPAA-Compliant Disposal of Office Equipment Containing Personal Health Information

Urgent message: Urgent care centers must dispose of fully depreciated office equipment such as computers, copiers, fax machines, and telephones containing protected health information in a manner that complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. How this column helps you: gives you guidelines for protecting your patients’ privacy. Introduction Since 2009, 42 million patients have been affected by privacy breaches entailing their protected health information (PHI).1 Many of these breaches stem from the …

Abdominopelvic Pain, Part 1: Approach to Men in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Abdominopelvic pain is one of the most complex issues encountered in the urgent care settings. Clinicians must make evaluations and decisions rapidly, and it is imperative that they make the appropriate diagnosis to prevent negative outcomes. How this article helps you: assists you in detecting potentially life-threatening problems. Introduction Abdominopelvic pain is something that every urgent care provider can relate to. Although urgent care statistics are not readily available, the Centers for Disease …

Probe Deeper if Symptoms Just Don’t Add Up

It was a case that easily could have presented in any urgent care center, and one that shows the importance of probing beyond social and medical history, including a patient’s profession and hobbies if necessary. The patient presented with a 7-year history of breathing difficulty that had recently worsened. The only related detail seemed to be that he had been diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP, also known as farmer’s lung and hot tub lung) 5 …

Data Are Clear: We Need More Urgent Care Centers!

We’ve all seen the data concerning the “graying” of the population and physician shortages (it’s not good), and within this industry intuited that urgent care will play an important role in providing care when and where it’s needed most. New data now show just how big an opportunity there is for urgent care operators. Looking at estimates of current volumes per urgent care center within the context of population density, demographics, and payer mix, Health …