Practice Management
Despite ongoing growth in the number of urgent care centers, many institutions still fail to see the profitable big picture of aligning with urgent care, or of opening locations of their own. A study by the University of Minnesota and Urgent Care Partners (UCP) reveals that healthcare providers are not actively coordinating the growing urgent care primary care channel, or effectively managing downstream referrals. The UCP Urgent Care Survey found that 66% of urgent care …
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While the University of Georgia joins the pack of institutions warning that immunizations are dangerously low this flu season (roughly 40% of what they should be at this time of year), a new study by Amino reveals that patients in the millennial age group are the most likely to visit either an urgent care center or the emergency room when the think they have the flu. These two pieces of data, though flowing from different …
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Americans who have heeded the advice of healthcare providers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get a flu shot are in the minority so far this season. Only 40% of patients have been immunized according to the CDC, leaving the majority at risk of both getting the flu and of passing it along to others. Many people aged 50–64 years are among those most at risk, as they’re just starting to …
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Being an industry populated by medical professionals who also happen to be forward-thinking business visionaries, urgent care is likely to see accelerated growth in telemedicine in 2017 and beyond. Conversely, operators who don’t see the benefit run the risk of getting left in the dust, as even large healthcare businesses and networks—typically, slower to adopt new practices than entrepreneurial types—are forging ahead in offering virtual visits. Occupational medicine giant Concentra just announced it is adding …
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Last month we told you the day after Thanksgiving is the second busiest day of the year for urgent care centers—with December 26 being the busiest. Some of that volume is due to patients who assumed they either had to head to the emergency room or wait a day or more to get care. If your urgent care center is going to be open Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day, the time to let your …
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Whether an urgent care can bill Place of Service -19 or -22 requires an understanding of the criteria enabling facility code sets. An urgent care joint venture between physicians and a hospital recently inquired about using Place of Service 22 (Outpatient Hospital), enabling facility fees. The key with billing the urgent care as “outpatient hospital” is that it must truly qualify for that service. I have reservations as to whether the urgent care could bill …
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Just weeks ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed there had been more than 2,300 cases of mumps confirmed around the country—more than twice the number that occurred in all of 2015. Today there are over 2,000 under investigation in Arkansas alone, with several other states still reporting higher-than-average outbreaks. Urgent care clinicians in college towns should be aware that campuses in affected areas have been especially hard hit. The University of Missouri …
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A swell of evidence shows more and more that the way patients make choices about healthcare—and even access care—is changing constantly. About 5% of Google searches are for a health-related topic these days, and a Pew Research Center study found 62% of patients have used their smartphones to look up health-related information. And the Mayo Clinic estimates that 84% of patients want to partner with their physicians in making treatment decisions. In other words, patients …
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When an urgent care physician suggests that a patient see another clinician for follow-up care, patients usually take that advice, according to a study by the Uniersity of Minnesota and Urgent Care Partners. In fact, 66% not only took the doctor’s advice to seek further care, but went to the specific provider recommended (though a specific provider was recommended just 21% of the time). Overall, 76% of patients who were told to seek follow-up care …
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Workers have come to expect a certain amount of celebration come holiday time—often including end-of-year bonuses or gifts. This does not have to be a meaningless distraction from ensuring the urgent care runs efficiently and takes care of patients effectively, though; looking beyond “secret Santa” gifts and office parties can actually strengthen employee engagement and loyalty. Physicians Practice magazine suggests focusing on gestures that will be meaningful to the individual, such as the following: A …
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