Using Fallback Options to Your Advantage
So Here’s What I’ve Learned…
John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I am always amazed by the myriad of personalities encountered on any given day in the urgent care center or emergency room, at the office, or even when simply out and about. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to learn a few things from the thousands of patients I’ve treated and the remarkable individuals I’ve met along the way. How is it that some people with serious acute or …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: December, 2009
In each issue on this page, we report on research from or relevant to the emerging urgent care marketplace. And few things are more relevant to urgent care’s role in the greater healthcare marketplace than wait times in various settings. This may be especially true to the emergency department, as one of the more often heard take-home messages in urgent care promotion is shorter wait times versus a trip to the Ed. This begs the …
Read MoreSplint Applications by Staff, and Proper Use ofModifiers -25, -26, and -59
Q. At the UCA Fall Urgent Care conference, you welcomed all questions, so here goes: Can you please let me know if it is appropriate to charge for Ortho-Glass and fiberglass splints in the urgent care setting? In some cases, the splints are applied by a tech under the direct supervision of the physician. In other cases, can the charge for the application of the splint be coded in addition to the Q code? Question …
Read MoreOvercoming the National Contract Barriers
Persistence
John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I just returned from Boston, where the American College of Emergency Physicians held its national conference. While there, along with learning (and relearning) some emergency medicine, I had the change to walk along the Freedom Trail and enhance my understanding of our battle for independence. What continually amazes me is how fortunate we were to actually succeed. Many times the only thing which turned the tide and saved the …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: November, 2009
In early 2008, UCA revamped its annual survey in conjunction with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University with the goal of assuring that the UCA Benchmarking Committee’s efforts produced a scientifically valid report. Here, we present some of the data from this landmark survey, to which 436 urgent care centers responded. In this issue: Which payors foot the biggest portion of the bill among responding urgent care centers? * Includes employer contracts and …
Read MoreS9083 & Secondary Insurance, Laceration Repair, and More
Q. We bill S9083 to several carriers. Occasionally, a patient will have secondary insurance. If the primary insurance is contracted to pay S9083 code but transfers the balance to the deductible, how do we bill the secondary carrier if they do not accept the code? Question submitted by Paula Seify, Back Office MD A. Many secondary payors do not accept S9083, but these payors still will often cover the actual services that were rendered under …
Read MoreDuty to Report
A few years ago, in a semi-rural town in Arizona, a woman brought her 4-year-old son to a physician assistant named James, who staffed a walk-in clinic. James knew the boy and his family very well. He was essentially their PCP and had treated the little boy in the past. In fact, he watched his grow from a toddler to a rambunctious little bundle of energy. On this particularly visit, the little boy had a …
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