In my last column, I presented ways that urgent care medicine can mature as a discipline and a health-care service. I discussed opportunities for expanding our value in a changing system. This month I suggest that one such opportunity, already in the pipeline, could dynamically augment urgent care’s role in what many consider to be the number one public health crisis: type 2 diabetes. The annual incidence of prediabetes and diabetes in U.S. adults is …
Read MoreThe Secret of Success: Caring Is Believing
Dr. James Gore, an old friend and an urgent care pioneer, shared those words of wisdom with me during a recent conversation. We were discussing the current state of health care and the challenges we face in urgent care with the rabid market activity we are seeing. We chatted a bit about the new faces and the outside interests entering the industry, and we laughed about all the mistakes being made by people looking for …
Read MoreTime for Urgent Care to Grow Up
I never thought I’d quote the rap artist Kamari aka Lyrikal, but I was drawn to his words of wisdom while preparing for this column: “The hardest part about growing up is letting go of what you were used to, and moving on with something you’re not.” As the “children” of urgent care, we have seen an adventurous and revolutionary spirit create an industry and discipline from scratch. We cared about things our “parents” dismissed …
Read MoreThe Future Without Flu: Will Public Health Gains Cause Business Ills?
It’s well known that the retail industry has a nasty habit of overreliance on the holiday season to buffer slower sales throughout the year. When the economy is strong, retail sales typically follow, and investors are happy. When the economy falters or when brick-and-mortar retail is disrupted by lowercost, more-convenient alternatives, investors feel a bit under the weather. Similarly, the urgent care dilemma has always been a relative dependence on flu season to account for …
Read MoreAnalytics and Performance Metrics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
It seems like metrics and analytics are the buzzwords to watch in 2016. Everyone— from health-care administrators to carwash operators—is looking for ways to measure best practices, key business drivers, and employee performance to stand out. Even my beloved Cleveland Browns became the first team in professional football to hire a chief strategy officer to apply analytics in picking players who give the team its best chance of winning. Health care itself is into analytics, …
Read MoreProvider Credentialing: An 800-Pound Gorilla
Credentialing has become a recurring nightmare for physicians of all specialties, in every state and in every practice setting. Eager for a fresh start, and energized by new opportunity, we decide to make a job change. Recruiters colorfully praise these openings, as if every job pays more than our current one, is closer to parks and culture, and exists in a region with a lower cost of living and, of course, better weather. After a …
Read MoreFrom Good to Great: A Guide for the Urgent Care Provider
It’s easy to think that all the steps we physicians and advanced practice providers must take before we are professionals make us great. After all, doesn’t everyone admire our impressive signature with its collection of professional certifications at the end? Not so fast. Greatness is not conferred or bestowed by degrees or certifications, and often it isn’t officially recognized. Instead, greatness is practiced, like yoga or karate. It is never a final achievement; it is …
Read MoreFirst and Ten: A Decade of JUCM
As we head into a new year at JUCM, our tenth, it is a natural time to reflect on our journal’s history and our goals for the future. Just being able to celebrate a 10th anniversary is nothing short of a miracle. Medical publishing has been in transition for some time, and the number of traditional journals is decreasing. Information, even complex clinical information, is now available with the click of a button. Considering the …
Read MoreRediscovering Your Service Mission
It comes as no surprise to anyone that health care is broken. Too many interest groups, too much regulation, too many poorly aligned incentives, too many unrealistic expectations, and too many myopic solutions. Worse, the physician voice has been weakened and handicapped by a combination of our patient-first mission and by the distraction inherent in a profoundly complicated professional discipline. Think of it this way: If your primary mission was profit and the financial engineering …
Read MoreValue-Based Reimbursement Is Premature, But That Won’t Stop It
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP Private payor reimbursement trends nearly always follow Medicare’s lead, and at no other time in history has the physician reimbursement model been so scrutinized. In an attempt to control unwieldly healthcare spending, payors are understandably looking to be creative. When they look at the drivers for increased health spending, one thing is clear: Diagnostic testing and imaging services grew far faster since 2000 than any other health-care service. According to …
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