Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Henry Schein, Cepheid Bring Molecular Diagnostics to the Urgent Care Arena

Cepheid has inked a deal with Henry Schein Medical to distribute its GeneXpert System and menu of Xpert tests for healthcare-associated infections, critical infectious disease, and sexual health in more than 10,000 laboratory customers in the United States—urgent care centers among them. Previously, the GeneXpert System could be found mainly in hospital laboratories. Subject to FDA review of the GeneXpert Omni System and associated tests, Henry Schein will also distribute Cepheid’s CLIA-waived products for the …

Tis the Season for Norovirus Out West

As public health officials in California warn of a jump in reported cases of norovirus—also known as winter vomiting disease—across the state, a preholiday gathering in Seattle illustrates the speed with which the virus can wreak havoc in tightly packed events. The California Department of Public Health has confirmed 32 outbreaks that sickened hundreds between October and the end of 2015. Meanwhile, more than 200 people came down with symptoms of norovirus, which include abdominal …

What Will ACA Provisions Mean for Urgent Care in 2016?

Some urgent care operators may be starting the new year with old worries about what the Affordable Care Act, known alternately as ACA or Obamacare, means for their centers. More specifically, there is concern that the shift away from PPO, in which patients can choose any provider in their network, to more rigid HMOs—many of which require patients to have preauthorization/referral to use urgent care or pay increased steerage—could hurt the industry. Where optimists hoped …

New Blood Test on Par with CT in Confirming Childhood Concussions

Urgent care centers that align themselves with schools and youth athletic programs should take note of a study showing that a blood test was able to confirm concussions in children with 94% accuracy—and to provide critical information on the severity of the concussion. While the reliability of the test was “competitive with CT scan,” it offered key advantages that may appeal to urgent care operators: namely, lower cost and none of the risks inherent to …

Make More Profitable Billing Practices a New Year Resolution for 2016

It’s not news that operating margins can be very thin—making it all the more perplexing that so many practices leave money on the table by not billing or coding correctly. While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said it will not deny claims for incorrect codes during the first year following implementation of ICD-10 in October 2015, provided that submitted codes are within the right code family, that’s only the tip of the …

CDC: Keep Pushing Flu Shots—Cases Are Still Climbing

If your urgent care center has not seen a boom in patients reporting with flu-like symptoms, don’t assume it’s going to be a slow influenza season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the annual peak is merely delayed, not lower than expected. In fact, most of the United States is still seeing a gradual climb in reported cases with this year’s peak not expected until at least January. New Jersey and South Carolina …

Kaiser Data Show Patients Think Email Improves Care Quality

Patients are coming to believe that exchanging emails with physicians improves the quality of their care. While that may come into play most easily in the primary care setting, urgent care providers might want to heed this growing trend and deepen patient loyalty by establishing electronic points-of-contact for patients, if they haven’t already. Nearly half of the participants in a new study from Kaiser Permanente have used email to communicate with their providers about test …

Clinicians and Occ Med Providers Warned to Mind Safe Immunization Practices

Local, state, and federal health officials are reminding clinicians and occupational medicine providers to follow safe immunizations practices in the wake of serial missteps during a workplace vaccination program in New Jersey. An article published in the December 18 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report notes “disregard for basic vaccine safety” that set in motion a mad scramble to assess and contain any potential danger to 67 workers whom they believe received shots with …

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Keeps Buying Medical Properties

Optum has followed up its acquisition of urgent care provider MedExpress by buying a chunk of ProHealth Physicians, an independent physician group based in Connecticut. Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, has been on a healthcare shopping spree over the past two years. The latest deal gives Optum control over ProHealth’s administration and other backend operations. The primary-care medical group will continue to be physician-owned, however. ProHealth has stated its plans to move toward risk-based …

ACEP: Don’t Blame Physicians if Patient Costs for Out-of-Network ED Visits Go Up

If patients start paying more for visiting out-of-network emergency rooms, the American College of Emergency Physicians suggests it will be the government’s fault, not physicians’ or hospitals’. ACEP joined with the Emergency Department Practice Management Association in crafting a response to a new federal rule that would bar insurers from charging plan members higher copayments when they visit out-of-network EDs. That law does not prohibit doctors and hospitals from “balance billing” consumers if the insurers …