Practice Management
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) says patients reporting to emergency rooms in Maryland are likely to wait over twice as long as the national average—53 minutes vs 22 minutes. Greater Baltimore Medical Center (BMBC), whose ED clocked an average wait time of 60 minutes, suggested patients could get in and out much more efficiently if nonemergent patients sought care in a more appropriate environment, such as BMBC’s primary care offices. This echoes …
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There’s no shortage of patients reporting to urgent care centers with back pain being their chief complaint. A new study published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases confirms they’re not likely to get satisfactory relief from nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), though. Machado, et al looked at 35 randomized, placebo-controlled trials that compared the efficacy and safety of NSAIDs with placebo for spinal pain. They found that treatment effects met the threshold for clinical importance in …
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A pilot program in Prince George’s County, Maryland has trained firefighters responding to 911 calls from patients who don’t meet the criteria for true emergent care. In one case cited in a Washington Post article, responders checked on a woman who was in the habit of calling 911 several times a week, with an unnecessary (and costly) trip to the emergency room following most often before the program launched. On that day, though, she had …
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HCA Holdings has a lot of money to shop with—a $2.9 billion capital budget, to be exact—and is planning on using a good chunk of it to buy a bigger portion of the urgent care marketplace. Known more as a hospital company, it expects to grow its urgent care business by 67% this year, from its current 72 clinics to 120 between now and December. It will also invest more heavily in the freestanding emergency …
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While the country is locked in its annual battle against influenza, a second “bug” is creeping up and taking its toll on schools and workplaces, as well. Like the flu, norovirus picks up steam in the winter months and is especially hard—sometimes deadly—on seniors and young children. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts February will be the peak month for infection, which is characterized by intense gastrological symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, …
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The American Heart Association says February is American Heart Month. Dignity Health‒GoHealth Urgent Care is leaning into that spotlight by launching a monthlong initiative it’s calling Love Your Heart, during which patients are invited to visit one of the company’s urgent care centers for free blood pressure readings, BMI calculations, and waist circumference measurements. The company says the campaign is intended to increase awareness of cardiovascular issues and to encourage more people to “take charge …
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Mindful of the rampant overuse and abuse of opioid medications, the U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed adding four of the most common—hydrocodone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, and hydromorphone—to its list of drugs that drivers must be screened for in urine analysis tests. Following through would bring the DOT testing protocol up to date with current Health and Human Services guidelines. There’s no date set for when the proposed changes would take effect. Urgent care providers who …
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Carena, a virtual urgent care center in Seattle, has gained a healthy following among brick-and-mortar urgent care clinics around the country by “seeing” patients with fairly typical complaints like rashes and symptoms of bladder infections. The company reports that their lines are really jumping now that flu season is in full force. They, and other e-medicine providers, can’t offer flu shots, of course, but they can help patients who don’t have the flu avoid exposure …
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Would a prospective patient who lands on your homepage after a Google search or seeing one of your ads be able to tell the difference between your center and the one four blocks down? If you’re Sequoia Prompt Care in Visalia, CA they would. The first things a web visitor to their website sees, in big bold letters, is “Click here to QuickPass the waiting room!” Follow that direction and you’re taken to another screen …
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Patients visiting Lanier Urgent Care in Gainesville, GA are asked the usual questions upon arrival—plus one that’s very atypical: You wanna see the dogs? According to the centers practice administrator, 90% of patients answer “Yes!” to that question. Lanier has a pair of canines on site every day, though one of them will likely be departing to spend time in Lanier’s soon-to-open second location. Dr. Ronald Perry, president of Lanier, says the dogs have a …
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