Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

DOJ Sweep Underscores Need for Toeing the Line in Medicare Practices

Physicians and nurses were charged along with business owners after the Department of Justice moved in on scores of clinics that were allegedly involved in fraudulently collecting fees from Medicare and Medicaid. The DOJ says more than 300 people were charged in healthcare fraud schemes involving $900 million in false billings. Sixty suspects were allegedly linked to schemes involving Medicare Part D, which is the fastest-growing component of Medicare, overall. According to court documents, the …

Intermountain Healthcare Joins the Telehealth Revolution

Add Intermountain Healthcare to the growing list of large healthcare providers that offer patients the chance to connect with a physician from the comfort of their own phone. IHC’s Connect Care will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and charge a flat fee of $49. Patients who the provider thinks need to be seen right away will get a referral and not be charged for the virtual visit. IHC operates 31 …

More Data Implicate Retail Clinics in Rising Health Spending

A new study from PwC’s Health Research Institute is just the latest to show that the convenience offered by retail clinics comes at a steep price. As a result, large employers can expect to see health costs keep growing throughout this year and the next, according to Medical Cost Trend: Behind the Numbers 2017. The “big surprise,” according to the report, is that the biggest increases appear to be coming from basic healthcare that should …

You Close at What Time!?

I do most of my banking online and through the ATM. Recently, though, I needed to conduct business in person at a JPMorganChase branch. I knew the branch closed at 6:00 pm so I broke away from the office, dodged North Dallas traffic, and rushed into the branch at 5:58 pm, sliding in just before they locked the doors. Or did I? When the manager saw me she asked, “Did you rush to get here?” …

Convenient Care Puts Pressure on Hospitals to Adopt New Business Strategies

Despite data proving that many emergency rooms are overcrowded, patient volume is down in U.S. hospitals overall, forcing administrators to consider novel business strategies, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan Transformational Health Team. Basically, patients are looking for outpatient, minimally invasive care—and finding it with “ambulatory care” providers in urgent care clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, and retail locations. Hospitals are responding by considering partnerships and collaborations with such providers. Transformation of the …

Urgent Care Physicians See Demand—and Salaries—Skyrocket

The laws of supply-and-demand have taken a liking to physicians just entering the work force—and the bounty seems especially rich in urgent care. We told you recently that physician shortages have some states offering incentives to draw newly minted docs to their neighborhoods. Now the 2016 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives reveals that “starting salaries for both primary care and specialist physicians spiked in the last 12 months.” Of particular interest, urgent …

Paying a Bigger Share of Medical Bills Could Have Patients Turning to Urgent Care

There’s a “new, critical stakeholder” with a voice in discussions about healthcare costs—and it’s someone urgent care operators know as well as anyone. A new report from InstaMed says 74% of patients had to pay a bigger share of their healthcare costs in 2015, prompting revenue cycle analysts to look at them more closely as actual “consumers” of services. “Both payers and providers will be challenged to overhaul their payment processes or face lost revenue …

AFC Doctors Express Goes All-In on Urgent Care Branding

American Family Care is putting all its clinics in the proverbial urgent care basket; the company’s 160+ locations, currently flying the AFC Doctors Express banner, will be rebranded under the name AFC Urgent Care. A new logo will come along with the name, but the locations will retain the same doctors and other staff, offer the same hours, accept the same insurance plans, and maintain current copays. Each will also continue to operate under local …

More Good News/Bad News for Urgent Care on the Millennial Market

A new study by FAIR Health says too many busy millennials (defined by Pew Research as those who turned ages 15–34 in 2015) turn to WebMD or “Dr. Google” instead of checking in with a physician when they need medical care. While that’s bad news for providers in every setting—not to mention those patients—the good news for urgent care is that when they do commit to an in-person visit, they are more likely to choose …

Are Insurers Punishing Providers for Being Out-of-Network?

A community hospital in California says Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia is punishing it for being out-of-network by paying patients directly for emergency services received at the hospital, rather than reimbursing the hospital. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital is taking the matter to court, charging that the Georgia BCBS plan is trying to pressure the hospital, unfairly, to accept its contract rates. The suit further claims that by paying patients directly, the …