Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Can Artificial Intelligence Provide Real Value in Triaging Urgent Care Patients?

A crowded waiting room can stress out both front-desk staff and clinicians. And barring obviously emergent presentations, human error can occur when deciding which patient needs attention first. An article just published in Fortune magazine introduces a new machine learning-powered triage system that was created to streamline and assure appropriate triage—with a focus on urgent care. The new system, developed by a company called Epic, analyzes a patient’s electronic medical records and their current vital …

Free Triage/Texting App Assists in Managing COVID-19 Patient Flow

Concern for both patients and staff has the country’s urgent care professionals leaning heavily on their industry partners for support in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the growing of number of people requesting COVID-19 testing and care, Experity has released a COVID-19 Check-in Triage, and Texting Application to help clinics manage patient check-in from home or the clinic parking lot, facilitate communication with patients, and assess risk before a patient enters an urgent …

Data Breaches Are on the Rise—Again. Are You Protected?

Last year—as has been the case for the past several years—data breaches rose across multiple industries in the United States, according to new data from the Identity Theft Resource Center. That 17% increase may be especially hazardous in urgent care and other healthcare settings, wherein the risk is exposure of not only financial information but also sensitive, confidential medical data. Hacking accounts for the greatest number of breaches, following by “unauthorized access.” As we’ve told …

Data Breaches Cost $2.2 Million Per Event; Prevention Could Save Your Business

Data breaches cost the United States healthcare system $6.2 billion in 2016, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Breaking the numbers down to the facility level over the entire survey period (2016–2018), HHS notes the average cost to each healthcare organization that experienced a breach was $2.2 million. If you haven’t been hit with a breach, consider yourself extremely lucky; roughly 80% of physicians have. HHS recommends taking …

Warning: Fallout from the Latest Healthcare Data Breaches Is Still Unfolding

A pair of data breaches at two lab test companies exposed information relating to more than 19 million consumers this week. First, Quest Diagnostics admitted it experienced a breach that exposed 12 million patients’ information; a day later, LabCorp revealed a breach affecting 7.7 million people. In the latter case, the company said the breach occurred at a third-party collections firm called American Medical Collections Agency (AMCA) between August 1, 2018 and March 30, 2019. …

Are Medication Dispensaries Next in the Evolution of Remote Healthcare?

Even before telemedicine has reached full-on acceptance in urgent care, the next step in the evolution of remote healthcare “visits” may be in progress as we speak. A company called OnMed is launching self-contained, unstaffed “pods” that will facilitate remote access to a healthcare provider and allow a patient to receive medication without taking another step. Each unit is designed with capabilities for measuring height and weight; determining body temperature; and measuring blood pressure, respiration, …

Don’t Let Tech Safety Lapses Sink Your Urgent Care Business

We stress the importance of hygiene and a sterile work environment clinically—that’s what keeps patients and staff safe, after all. However, diligence to tech hygiene and security is just as important to the health of your business, as we can see from a couple of news reports this week. First, eClinicalWorks was fined $132,000 for violating an agreement with the Department of Justice that required vendors to report patient safety issues using their EHR system …

Smart Technology Allows Tech Firms to Jump into Healthcare—for Better or Worse(?)

We look at the advent of smart technology as a window to closer contact with patients and more efficient, secure communication among providers and various healthcare stakeholders. It also opens a door for technology companies with no history in healthcare to suddenly become major disruptors. While it’s too soon to know whether that would be a good or bad thing for patients, there’s no question it makes some cogs in the supply chain nervous. If …

Beware Overly Intrusive Online Patient Check-In Systems

On the surface, offering online check-in sounds like a can’t-miss proposition that combines the organization of an appointment-based practice with the convenience of a walk-in system. As with most innovations that purport to solve all your problems in a given area, however, this option is not risk-free for urgent care operators who want to drive up visits while offering a better experience for their patients. According to a new article published on LinkedIn by Alan …

New App Helps Patients Choose Among Urgent Care and Other Care Settings

More choices can often lead to more indecision for patients who need same-day medical care. While many have gotten the message the emergency room should be reserved for emergencies, it’s still an option. Some insurers (like Anthem) are making it tough on patients who make the “wrong” decision by refusing to pick up the tab for some ED visits if they’re later deemed to have been nonemergent. A new app developed by a pair of …