Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

New Data Reaffirm ED Overcharging—and ‘Disparities’ in Healthcare

Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore has added its voice to the chorus decrying excessive costs for patients visiting hospital emergency rooms for episodic care. What’s more, new data it just revealed indicates the odds of getting overcharged are greater if you’re a minority or uninsured. Researchers considered the billing records for more than 12,000 U.S. hospital-based emergency physicians, finding that on average adult patients in the ED are charged 340% more than what Medicare allows …

Can Urgent Care Be the ‘Rebound’ When PCPs Break Up with Patients?

The practice of physicians dismissing patients from their care seems to be on the uptick in recent years, according to a new report in JAMA Internal Medicine. Roughly 90% of the 794 practices that were part of the study have “fired” patients in the past 2 years—with 8% saying they’ve terminated relationships with ≥51 patients in that time. The greatest portion of participants (67%) has let up to 20 patients go. Only 10% have not …

Proposed Federal Budget Could Affect Urgent Care Staffing Costs

One component of President Trump’s proposed budget could have significant impact on urgent care staffing if it remains part of the final version ultimately approved by Congress. Specifically, Trump’s plan—which is likely to be substantially rewritten as it goes through the House and Senate—would ensure 6 weeks of paid leave for both mothers and fathers after the birth of a baby. Some large employers have already instituted similar policies voluntarily, but smaller companies (eg, many …

Urgent Care Surges in Ranking of Most-Recruited Clinicians

While family physicians remain the most commonly sought clinicians among recruiters, urgent care physicians jumped from 20th just 2 years ago to 12th in Merritt Hawkins’ 2017 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives. Given that primary care physicians are the backbone of the urgent care provider workforce, it’s expected that recruitment and retention will continue to be increasingly competitive. More and more, top employee physicians (as opposed to owner/operator physicians) are being courted …

Providers Not Likely to Face Legal Problems from eClinicalWorks settlement

Some urgent care providers have expressed concern that they could be the next subjects of Department of Justice scrutiny in the wake of eClinicalWorks agreement to settle federal charges. Those fears stem from the idea that incentive payments they received from eClinicalWorks could be viewed as ill-gotten gains. (As we told you just days ago, the company had been sued over charges it falsely certified that its EHR met all government criteria and that it …

Webinar: On-site Lab Tests Are a Clinical Imperative—and Set Your Clinic Apart from the Rest

While convenient access to quality, affordable care has been the defining characteristic of the urgent care setting from its inception, the growth of the industry has been fueled by constant innovation and responsiveness to the evolving needs and preferences of the patient. Today, that includes on-the-spot lab testing. Languishing for hours in a hospital waiting area is a miserable prospect when patients are feeling ill, so they’re likely to choose an urgent care center over …

Note to Urgent Care Operators: No More Salary History Questions in New York City

It’s official: New York City is now the latest entity to forbid hiring companies of any kind—including urgent care centers—from asking prospective employees how much money they made in previous positions. Though it won’t take effect until October, a bill to that effect was signed into effect just last week. The intent is to help close the gap in average salary between male and female workers. The rationale is that anyone who made less money …

eClinicalWorks Settlement Will Take the Sting Out of Switching to New EHR Systems

Electronic health record vendor eClinicalWorks’ has been fined $155 million for violating the False Claims Act. The company’s misfortune could be the urgent care industry’s (and patients’) gain, however, by making it easier for healthcare providers to switch from one EHR system to another. eClinicalWorks was sued over claims that it falsely certified that its EHR met all government criteria and that it failed to adequately test its software before release; to adequately debug systems …

Texas Children’s Hospital Uses Urgent Care ‘Brand’ to Expand Its Reach

Texas Children’s Hospital may not have an actual hospital in Austin, TX, but they’ll have a presence by virtue of plans to open pediatric urgent care centers and other facilities there over the next 3 years. Those centers, along with primary care practices, pediatric specialty clinics, and maternal-fetal medical practices, will be standalone locations that are not connected to any physical hospital in the vicinity. In effect, Texas Children’s will be using urgent care and its …