Practice Management
Recognizing what’s already going on around the country, Uber is putting a name on its efforts to be the provider of choice when patients need to see a doctor but can’t get there under their own steam. The minor twist Uber Health offers is that it is designed to encourage providers to arrange transportation for their incoming patients. While that may appear to favor traditional primary care practices, urgent care operators should consider that ready …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended use of the FluMist Quadrivalent nasal spray influenza vaccine in the next influenza season. Starting 2 years ago, healthcare providers have been urged to not use that vaccine because the CDC said there was a lack of efficacy in preventing influenza. However, the new ACIP recommendation comes on the heals of a U.S. study in young children that found vaccines …
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A new study by Solutionreach reveals that healthcare consumers find three things most important in improving the doctor-patient relationship—and in helping them choose who to visit when they need care. Perhaps as importantly, in terms of helping urgent care providers recognize differences in how patients of various ages view healthcare, the report breaks down responses into the categories of Millennials (ages 21–34 for purposes of this study), Generation Xers (35–51 years old), and Baby Boomers …
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An urgent care nurse practitioner at NextCare in Albuquerque, NM has just been named to the Board of Nurses of the American Health Council. Gilberto Alvarado, MSN, CNP, FNP-BC, BSN, RN has been in healthcare for 45 years, starting as a hospital corpsman in the United States Navy and advancing through a number of clinical positions—with the requisite additional training—culminating in his current position at NextCare. AHC describes its mission through the mnemonic ABCDE: advocacy, …
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With the opening of its new 24/7 Center for Connected Care, Penn Medicine now operates one of the larges telehealth hubs in the U.S. In addition to virtual urgent care services, the system houses Penn Medicine’s 15-year-old e-ICU, and a service that focuses on patients with chronic illness. It has 50 full-time employees. The move reflects growing use of virtual care across the country, as confirmed by data from Sage Growth Partners revealing that 56% …
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West Virginia and Florida are the latest states to seek a legislative solution to the nation’s ongoing crisis of opioid misuse, abuse, and related deaths. In West Virginia, the state senate just voted unanimously to limit new painkiller prescriptions for most patients to a 7-day supply, though the number would be lower for urgent care centers and emergency rooms (4 days) and for dentists and ophthalmologists (3 days). Florida is looking at a bill that …
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A new study from the University of Phoenix College of Health Professionals reveals that 59% of American adults have used online resources (eg, WebMD) to explore symptoms instead of visiting a primary care physician. Just 12% have used telemedicine in place of primary care. The data reflect an online survey of 2,201 people from a range of demographic categories. Doris Savron, executive dean, interpreted the data as proof that the healthcare industry is leaning toward …
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An urgent care operator in Ohio is one of the 14 sites in a phase 3 clinical trial for a prospective Allergan product to treat patients with diabetic gastroparesis (DG), a condition that slows or stops the movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine. The trial, officially titled A 46-week, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Phase 3 Study With a 6-week Randomized-withdrawal Period to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Relamorelin in Patients with Diabetic …
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A trend toward high-deductible health plans and new technologies that ease access are pushing consumers to demand more from healthcare encounters, according to a new research report from CBInsights. This is evidenced by the growing popularity of “wearable” health-tracking devices and telemedicine services, but also in the number of patients who continue to flock to urgent care centers, according to the report. That, in turn, makes the industry attractive to private-equity investors, who “see opportunities …
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When Anthem announced some months ago it would not cover bills for “unnecessary” (in their retrospective view) trips to the emergency room in some states, we noted objections from physician groups. Now that the policy is in place and claims for 2018 have started to be filed, we’re seeing media reports on angry patients who are getting stuck with bills they presumed would be covered. Consumer Reports, for one, recounts the case of a patient …
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