Practice Management
Here at the Urgent Care Association (UCA), we often used to ask ourselves, “Is this a UCA thing or a College thing or a Foundation thing?” Over the past few years of talking to all of you, I learned that we were not the only ones asking this question. When you build a house, over the years, you may add on a fantastic new sunroom, then an expansive extra bedroom, and then maybe you remodel …
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this week posted a letter to healthcare providers acknowledging their cash flow disruptions resulting from the Change Healthcare cyberattack that crippled mission-critical eligibility and claims processes nationwide. Providers were collectively losing as much as $1 billion a day for several weeks while they waited for Change to rebuild and relaunch its systems, according to a report from Axios. HHS officials also offered a practical resource guide …
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Walgreens recently completed the sale of 11 VillageMD clinics in Rhode Island to Arches Medical Partners (AMP), based in Boston. The sale is part of Walgreens’ broader initiative to boost profitability by divesting VillageMD primary care locations, following a period of weak fourth-quarter earnings in 2023. This week, the company announced 160 VillageMD clinics have been slated for closure—100 more than previously announced. The company recently exited the Florida market entirely and this week announced …
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The potential for greater spread of harmful pathogens is yet another negative aspect of climate change that should be examined closely, according to infectious diseases experts in a recent JAMA article. Atmospheric changes are driving alterations in pathogens and parasites as temperatures rise and weather extremes persist, including severe heat, droughts, and wildfires. Authors found recent rises in vector-borne, zoonotic, fungal, and waterborne diseases they believe are the result of climate change. Conditions such as …
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A common screening tool used to evaluate health and adversity is in need of a modern makeover, according to a perspective in STAT News written by a graduate student at George Washington University. The screening questionnaire—the adverse childhood experience (ACE) tool that quantifies early experiences related to abuse, violence, and neglect—can indicate risk for long-term health effects throughout life. The higher an individual’s ACE score, the greater the risk of negative health outcomes. According to …
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A retrospective study conducted across 28 urgent care clinics in Utah found an estimated rate of pneumonia overdiagnosis in urgent care clinics of 30%. The authors arrived at the estimate by examining a group of 7,214 patients’ pneumonia diagnoses recorded from January 2019 through December 2020 in the urgent care centers and comparing them with subsequent diagnoses in an emergency department (ED) or hospital. Of the urgent care patients who were later seen in an …
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A recent survey of health system financial leaders by the Healthcare Financial Management Association examined the pain points executives are facing in a tough market that is characterized by higher operating costs and lower payer reimbursement. At the top of the list, 96% of the 135 system leaders polled say higher labor costs are putting downward pressure on margins, 84% say the same about lower payer reimbursement, and 47% say as much about higher supply …
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According to a press release from March 18, 2024, Concentra Group Holdings Parent Inc. has plans for the Concentra line of business to go public and has filed a confidential draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. With centers in 41 states, Concentra is one of the largest urgent care and occupational medicine operators in the country. Previously, Select Medical Holdings announced its intent to pursue separation from Concentra, carving out 2 separate …
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A survey conducted by the American Hospital Association (AHA) from March 9-12, 2024, found that among the 1,000 hospitals responding, 94% say they are experiencing financial impact related to the Change Healthcare cyberattack that was first discovered on February 21. According to AHA, more than half of the surveyed hospitals say they are facing “significant or serious” impact. Additionally, more than 80% of hospitals say the cyberattack has affected their cash flow, and 74% of …
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What’s worse: getting a vaccine or watching your child in distress when he or she gets a vaccine? For many parents, their own heartbreak when experiencing their child’s needle pain makes vaccines and blood draws that much more difficult for both. In time, as a news item from KFF Health News notes, the distress of needle pain can follow children as they grow, posing a barrier to preventive care into adulthood. As many as a …
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