Practice Management
Urgent message: Establishing a practice website takes careful planning and execution but it can enhance traditional marketing efforts by providing a central repository of relevant information for prospective patients. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity When consumers experience a minor illness or injury, numerous questions arise, such as “What do these symptoms mean?” “Can I do something about this myself?” and “What kind of help do I need, where do I get it, and …
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Urgent message: Letting employees go is never easy. This article offers tips for protecting your business and yourself if termination is necessary. Among the key recommendations are compiling documentation and seeking legal advice. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity Letting an employee go, whether due to job performance or economic necessity, is never a pleasant situation. Although an urgent care center strives to provide high-quality patient care, it’s also a business. This means that …
Read MoreThese data from the 2012 Urgent Care Industry Benchmarking Study are based on a sample of 1,732 urgent care centers; 95.2% of the respondents were UCA members. Among other criteria, the study was limited to centers that have a licensed provider onsite at all times; have two or more exam rooms; typically are open 7 days/week, 4 hours/day, at least 3,000 hours/year; and treat patients of all ages (unless specifically a pediatric urgent care). In …
Read MoreDAVID STERN, MD (Practice Velocity) Q. Can physicians see regular patients and schedule routine care at urgent care facilities? If so, can the urgent care center bill for those services at a separate, lower rate than the urgent care rate? A.Special attention should be paid to payor contracts in these situations. If the insurance company views your patient’s visits as urgent care even though you provided primary care, the patient could be responsible for higher …
Read MoreJOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Have you seen poster with the phrase, “IT COULD BE THAT THE PURPOSE OF YOUR LIFE IS ONLY TO SERVE AS A WARNING TO OTHERS?” Have you ever had “one of those days” where you believed the poster was a sign from God directed only to you? Over the years I have heard hundreds of patients and numerous friends and acquaintances mutter the phrase, “It seemed like a good …
Read MoreDAVID STERN, MD (Practice Velocity) Q. Can a patient be billed for an E/M code and an ultrasound procedure such as 93970, “Duplex scan of extremity veins including responses to compression and other maneuvers; complete bilateral study” during the same visit when both the scan and the E/M visit were performed by the same provider? A. If during an office visit it is determined that the ultrasound procedure needs to be performed on the same …
Read MoreThese data from the 2012 Urgent Care Industry Benchmarking Study are based on a sample of 1,732 urgent care centers; 95.2% of the respondents were UCA members. Among other criteria, the study was limited to centers that have a licensed provider onsite at all times; have two or more exam rooms; typically are open 7 days/week, 4 hours/day, at least 3,000 hours/year; and treat patients of all ages (unless specifically a pediatric urgent care). In …
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Urgent message: Cultivating trust requires good communication and if a language barrier stands between patient and provider, not only are clinical outcomes jeopardized, but the urgent care operation can be subject to legal liability. ALAN A. AYERS, MBA, MAcc Practice Velocity The demographics of the United States are rapidly changing. Today a language other than English is spoken in 55 million households, 67% of which speak Spanish, and an estimated 19% of Americans have Limited …
Read MoreJOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP In the past, when I have broached the topic of employee theft with urgent care owners, their typical, somewhat indignant, response is, “My employees would never do that!” I really like this answer because I really value loyalty – more than anything. In the film Ides of March, campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) proclaims: “I value loyalty over everything.” Of course, he completely gets screwed (by his …
Read MoreThese data from the 2012 Urgent Care Industry Benchmarking Study are based on a sample of 1,732 urgent care centers; 95.2% of the respondents were UCAOA members. Among other criteria, the study was limited to centers that have a licensed provider onsite at all times; have two or more exam rooms; typically are open 7 days/week, 4 hours/day, at least 3,000 hours/year; and treat patients of all ages (unless specifically a pediatric urgent care). In …
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