Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Urgent Care Occupational Medicine Ensures Worker Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently investigated a serious case of violations of worker safety standards that led to a 31-year-old factory employee who developed accelerated silicosis ultimately needing a double lung transplant. Other workers at the same home-products manufacturing facility in Chicago also reported unresolved lung disease from breathing silica dust, including severe illness that will require a lung transplant for at least one more employee in the future. Urgent care operators …

Oklahoma UC Owner Settles False Claims Lawsuit

According to the Department of Justice, Azhar Shakeel, MD, has settled with state and federal agencies for $619,994 to resolve a False Claims Act violation. Shakeel, who owns and operates Urgent Care of Muskogee, Urgent Care of Checotah, and Muskogee Medical Care in Oklahoma, allegedly submitted claims to several federally funded healthcare programs during times in which it was believed he was not actually in the centers seeing patients. A department press release notes that …

Med Spa Services Require Protocols to Prevent Blood-Borne Pathogen Exposure

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the first time documents incidents of HIV transmission through cosmetic injection services known as “vampire facials,” which are treatments that inject a person’s own blood into their face for cosmetic purposes, such as skin rejuvenation. The services are usually delivered in spa-type environments and involve drawing a client’s blood, separating the plasma and cells, and using disposable or multi use sterile equipment …

Need a Resource for Patients Confused About Urgent Care? Try Consumer Reports

Local news outlets, insurers, and countless urgent care operators have tried to help patients understand when it makes the most sense to go to an urgent care center, as opposed to the emergency room or a retail clinic. Now Consumer Reports, a publication viewed as unimpeachable by many, is taking a crack at it. An article recently published there suggests the urgent care center may be the best choice when a patient needs stitches or …

UCA Webinar Assesses Financial Tools

If improving your urgent care center’s financial management is one of your New Year resolutions, consider signing up for Financial Forecasting: Learn How to Use Key Financial Tools, a live webinar to be hosted by the Urgent Care Association (UCA) on Thursday, December 17 at 1 pm, Central. Speaker Luke Hart, a former urgent care CEO, will discuss tools to help increase cash flow, better assess your debts and risks, and leverage strong relationships with …

Survey: Adopting Value-Based Models Will Be Challenging for Family Medicine

Family medicine has a long way to go in supporting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ goal of tying fully half of traditional fee-for-service Medicare payments to value-based payment models by 2018, if a new survey from the American Academy of Family Medicine is any indication. Urgent care typically operates on a parallel, fee-for-service model, but the evolution of how other practice environments come to terms with the changing dynamics of the healthcare …

LITERATURE REVIEW: Early Administration of Azithromycin and Prevention of Severe Lower RTI

Citation: Bacharier LB, Guilbert TW, Maugeret DT, al. Early administration of azithromycin and prevention of severe lower respiratory tract illnesses in preschool children with a history of such illnesses. JAMA. 2015;314:2034-2044. Reviewed by: Michael B. Weinstock, MD Background/question: The authors wanted to know if antibiotics administered early in the course of a respiratory tract infection (RTI) in children with recurrent, severe RTIs decreased progression of disease. Study: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at …

WellSpan, MedExpress Strike Micro Partnership

WellSpan Health continues to broaden its reach into urgent care, this time striking a partnership with MedExpress—somewhat unusual in that it involves just a single clinic and reflects no change in ownership for either company. WellSpan has been slowly buying up healthcare properties in the area, having acquired Good Samaritan Health System in Lebanon, PA and brought a local orthopedic practice into its fold earlier this year. WellSpan Health is a large integrated healthcare system …

Urgent Care a ‘Disrupter’ of Traditional Primary Care

A new study concludes that the healthcare marketplace is dictating a major renovation of primary care—and urgent care is both one of the causes and a potential beneficiary of the dramatic changes in the landscape. The report from PwC Health Industries’ Health Research Institute says rising costs and increased demand for primary care practitioners are forcing stakeholders to rethink their business models to unlock value. Simon Samaha, MD of PwC says the solution lies in …