Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Beware the BFRF!

John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Remember the scene in Ghostbusters when Gozer (the Gozarian) asks Ray Stantz if he is a “god?” Stantz, compulsively honest, says, “No.” Gozer says, “Then die,” as he tries to blow them off the roof of the building. After recovering, Peter Venkman yells at Stantz, “If someone asks if you are a god, you say YES!” The question Gozer asked Stantz was a red flag – one of those …

How to Say ‘Farewell and Adieu’ to Owning Your Business

John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP How do you know when it’s time to cut bait? Remember the scene in Jaws when Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) is throwing fish guts into the ocean and comes face to face with the shark? He remarks, somewhat casually. “You’re going to need a bigger boat.” Despite the fact that everyone in the theater is yelling “run for your life,” the trio then decides to continue after the …

EMTALA and Transferring Patients to the Emergency Department

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I was an emergency medicine resident on the south side of Chicago in the mid-1980s and, truth be known, I sometimes played inappropriate practical jokes on residents at other area trauma centers. One of my favorites was calling over the “patch phone” with a report that a patient whose penis was “Lorena Bobbitted” by a pit bull was en route; the paramedics were bringing in both the patient and …

Strategies on Responding to Variable Patient Acuity and Flow

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Over the years, I have worked with a variety of providers who exhibited significantly disparate skill levels in their ability to manage patient flow. Practicing good medicine is a given; some have been amazingly intelligent providers who make House look like a PG1 psychiatry resident from a non-accredited medical school. Their only downside was that they were pathetically slow, or communicated at the level of a mollusk. Effective and …

Managing Through Change

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP The urgent care sector in particular, and healthcare in general, is undergoing a sea change—a phrase that has its origins in Shakespeare’s The Tempest: Full fathom five thy father lies Of his bones are coral made Those are pearls that were his eyes Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Shakespeare was referring to the corpse of Ferdinand’s father being …

Medical Search Firms: Match Making Comes to Medicine

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Recently, a friend called to tell me he was going to the airport to meet a woman he met online. He described her as tall, blonde, athletic and, based upon her e-mails and witty repartee, very smart. He brought the photo she e-mailed so he would recognize her when she walked through the gate. Oddly, he never did see her walk off the plane; however, he felt a tug …

Bankruptcy Part Two: Honesty is the Only Policy

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP In this challenging financial market, in this space (urgent care medicine), should bankruptcy be something with which you are overly concerned? The answer is an unequivocal, “yes!” Urgent care ownership is not for the faint of heart or the short of capital. As a friend of mine said, “This business has a lot of moving parts and misfiring on any one of them can cause your business to be …

Toward a Happier World: The Art of Patient Service

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Customer service is a trendy theme in virtually every business these days. However, the gap between “woulda, shoulda, coulda” and reality is invariably significant. Simply put, the concept of customer service is given universal lip service, but it is rarely incorporated into the fabric of an urgent care clinic. An effective patient service program requires five core elements: planning, training, execution, evaluation, and reward/recognition.

Bankruptcy: When BK Doesn’t Mean You Can Have It Your Way

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP My favorite movie—other than Wedding Crashers, of course—is It’s a Wonderful Life. I watch it every Christmas. One of the most memorable scenes is where Uncle Billy misplaces the envelope containing the deposits. Once George realizes the gravity of the situation, he confronts Uncle Billy: “Where’s that money, you stupid old fool? Where’s that money? Do you realize what this means? It means bankruptcy and scandal and prison, that’s …

Send Lawyers, Guns and Money: Asset Protection for Providers and Urgent Care Owners

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Although I am sure I have been described as an Excitable Boy, God knows I am no Warren Zevon. However, ol’ Warren correctly described the mindset of most providers and business owners when their personal assets are attached to a judgment. This article tackles the complex subject of asset protection. When an acquaintance of mine (an attorney) learned that he was going to be named in a suit alleging …