Practice Management
This year’s severe flu season is taking a deadly toll in nearly every state in the nation, and it’s not done yet. Urgent care in general is playing a key role in helping to minimize the consequences by continuing to administer vaccines for those who’ve remained healthy so far, and to prescribe antivirals and provide supportive care for those who have the flu. But what does your community know about your expertise and ability to …
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Registered radiology technologists working in pediatric urgent care centers produced better-quality images than attending physicians in a newly published study at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. The report was published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. The aim of the study was to assess radiograph quality at urgent care centers staffed with and without technologists, as well as the utilization of radiography in a pediatric urgent care setting. The researchers looked at …
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Patient advocates have been pushing back on legislative and clinical efforts to put the brakes on widespread prescribing of opioid pain medications, on the grounds that the medications are a necessity for some patients in extreme pain. The problem—so far—is that there don’t seem to be any viable alternatives that work as well. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that could be changing, though. Chang, et al compared …
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A newly published report from the Urgent Care Association reveals just how far the industry has come from its “doc in a box” days, to the point that it’s now a key element of the healthcare continuum. In fact, urgent care centers account for 18.2% of all primary care visits and 9.7% of outpatients visits overall in the U.S. The Essential Role of the Urgent Care Center in Population Health also offers new data indicating …
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Physicians and patients alike have been vocal in their disapproval of Anthem’s policy of denying claims for emergency room visits that are ultimately declared nonemergent—the main criticisms being that it forces patients to self-diagnosis to some extent and that it ultimately may discourage patients from getting emergency care when they really do need it. Now the Indianapolis Recorder newspaper charges the policy is going to have the greatest negative impact on low-income patients, based on …
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In September, we told you about an urgent care center in North Carolina that had committed to serving the immediate needs of patients with psychiatric and behavioral health concerns—but was struggling to attract enough patients. The staff was seeing fewer than 17 patients a week then; today, it’s closer to 50, halfway to their goal of serving 100 each week. Carolina Outreach just conducted an open house to celebrate its 6-month anniversary and to continue …
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The 2018 Recommended Immunization Schedule for Adults Aged 19 or Older from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) includes a couple of key changes especially relevant to urgent care providers who offer immunization services. As of now, among other updates, ACP recommends: Recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV; Shingrix) to prevent shingles in adults as follows: Two doses of RZV 2 to 6 months apart to adults …
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An unknown man and woman delivered a second man with two gunshot wounds to an urgent care center in Kitsap County, WA last Friday—and then sped away, leaving law enforcement to wonder if they were simply good Samaritans, witnesses, or somehow involved in the shooting. The victim was treated in the urgent care center and then taken to a nearby hospital with non–life-threatening injuries. It remains to be seen how involved the urgent care center’s …
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A proposed new law could increase employers’ reliance on contractors who conduct worker drug screens—such as urgent care providers who offer occupational medicine services—if passed by state legislators in Maine. The bill would give employers more power to order drug screens for workers by loosening probable-cause requirements and permitting employers to order a test after a single workplace mishap or other signs of impairment. The bill’s proponents say the laws on the books haven’t kept …
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Three gigantic—and extremely wealthy—corporations are joining forces to try to lower what their leadership considers to be exorbitant healthcare costs. Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase say they’re forming an “independent healthcare company” specifically for their employees—more than a million people, though not all are in the U.S. The new entity will focus on technological solutions to lower costs, simplify coverage, and increase transparency in employee healthcare. Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet says the triumvirate “does …
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