Practice Management
The patient is a 35-year-old woman who presents with a frequent, light cough of several months’ duration. Her medical history is unremarkable, including no history of COVID-19. She is a former “social smoker” who worked out on a treadmill sporadically before the cough began. View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
Read MoreQ: Can we bill for critical care services when spending extra time with patients who are very ill? A: It is rare that you would perform billable critical care services in the urgent care setting. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Medical Association (AMA), critical care is defined as the direct delivery by a physician(s) of medical care for a critically ill or critically injured patient. A critical …
Read MoreAvailability of basic x-ray capabilities differentiates urgent care centers from walk-in primary-care and retail clinics, which lack such capabilities. According to an analysis of nearly 50,000 patient encounters by Practice Velocity and Teleradiology Specialists, approximately 11% of urgent care visits require an x-ray. The top 10 views, summarized here by Current Procedural Technology (CPT) codes, account for 86% of urgent care x-rays. (Note: The top 10 views include 11 views because of the equal percentage of …
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