Practice Management
Massachusetts regulators are considering new measures to create a standard licensure for urgent care (UC) centers in the state in an effort to “apply care standards and improve quality of care,” according to the Worcester Business Journal. Officials also want the ability to collect uniform quality-of-care data from all UC operators, noting that last year, only about one-fourth of the centers in the state reported their data to the US Centers for Disease Control and …
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A recent JAMA Network Open Viewpoint article explored the frustrations resulting from the expiration of temporary regulatory changes that were implemented by almost all states to allow physicians to provide telehealth across state lines during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the end of the public health emergency, many licensing waivers ended as well. Some argue that licensure should remain under control of the state while others advocate for a single federal license or full …
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Starting January 1, 2024, employers in several states are implementing new laws regarding time off for employees. For example, in Minnesota, employers must provide paid leave under the earned sick and safe time law. Those working at least 80 hours in a year within the state—including part-time employees—are eligible for the benefit. An employee now earns a guaranteed 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 48 …
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The ultimate effects of new abortion laws being enacted or considered across the country have yet to be realized. That doesn’t mean the wheels of state legislatures aren’t spinning solutions to emerging challenges that could result, however—and urgent care is figuring significantly in at least some. In Pennsylvania, for example, the state senate unanimously passed a bill that would decriminalize the act of a parent surrendering an unharmed newborn at an urgent care center if …
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X-ray services are a key factor that distinguishes urgent care centers from other walk-in healthcare facilities. So, especially in the midst of a shortage of x-ray technologists (RTs) in general, anything that threatens UC’s ability to offer imaging services could without exaggeration be viewed as a threat to the industry’s place in the healthcare system. The most current controversy is going on in Ohio, where the RT lobby is opposing a change in legislation that …
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In case you missed it, urgent care centers and other healthcare employers who have contracts with the federal government are now forbidden from asking prospective employees’ about their criminal history on applications or in the interview process. In fact, you’re not allowed to raise the question before you offer someone the job. The first time you’re allowed to raise the question is when you make a conditional offer of employment—after which you could open yourself …
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When the Northeast Regional Urgent Care Association Government Affairs team recognized the hazards that proposed legislation in New York posed for urgent care, they jumped into action to mobilize members to speak out. And it worked. According to a mass email from NERUCA Government Affairs Chair Jonathan S. Halpert, MD, FACEP to members and urgent care stakeholders, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office received thousands of telephone calls and emails protesting a proposed bill that …
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Despite beating the drum for several weeks, the Urgent Care Association reports that it has seen low response to an advocacy alert regarding imminent Medicare payment cuts to physicians. The Association is pleading with urgent care professionals to ask their senators and representatives to fight a nearly 10% reduction likely to occur by the end of this year. A bipartisan effort to discourage the reduction is being led by Congresswoman Ami Bera, MD (D-CA) and …
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“Surprise bills” would be illegal under an interim final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For purposes of the proposed rule, surprise bills are viewed as those received from a healthcare facility or individual provider outside the patient’s insurance coverage after the patient has received services from that facility. While this could apply to any such situation (eg, a patient having an otherwise covered surgical procedure may receive a separate …
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This is not going to be your typical flu season. At best, patients will flood healthcare facilities to get their flu shots early. The worst-case scenario is that they’ll shy away from immunization under the misguided assumption that it could leave them in a weakened state or expose them to people with COVID-19. Recognizing the overlap, as well as the reality that people who work in urgent care centers and other healthcare facilities are not …
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