Practice Management
Several female patients have reported sexual assaults to police in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, after visiting a Carbon Health Urgent Care location in the area, leading to charges against a medical assistant (MA), according to Philly Voice. The MA was arrested, and authorities allege he took photos and videos of unsuspecting women, posed as a nurse, performed physical exams he was not authorized to do, and told a female patient to undress while he was in …
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Lawmakers in Alaska have approved a bill to legalize subscription-based healthcare in the state. If signed into law by the governor, providers would be able to offer care to patients who pay a monthly fee without leveraging any insurance benefits, according to Anchorage Daily News. The bill includes a provision requiring subscription-based clinics to continue accepting Medicare patients and the uninsured. The provision is meant to address the shortage of providers willing to accept patients …
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A new study demonstrates that the benefits of clinician empathy toward patients can be even more effective than some therapies in treating chronic low-back pain, as published in JAMA Network Open. Low-back pain affects up to 85% of the US population, and researchers found that treatment from physicians whom the patients considered “very empathic” was associated with better outcomes at the end of 1 year than treatment from “slightly empathic” physicians. Each of the 1,470 …
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The Food and Drug Administration is under pressure from attorneys general to update guidance on pulse oximeters to take into account the risk for inaccurate readings when the devices are used for patients with darker skin tones. Pulse oximeters can overestimate blood oxygen levels for patients with darker skin, and research demonstrating the relationship between skin tone and oximeter readings dates back as far as 2005. Proposed updates include options such as warning labels and …
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The Urgent Care Association’s (UCA) Commission on Diversity is seeking organizations to participate in a pilot program for a new commendation for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). UCA created the program as an opportunity for urgent care organizations to be recognized for efforts to address disparities with well-thought DEI strategies. The DEI Commendation will be structured to recognize a commitment to best practices in creating inclusive environments, while fostering equal opportunities and embracing diversity to …
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Walmart is pumping the brakes on expansion plans for its superstore health clinics, a decision that parallels a similar trend among other national retailers that have reconsidered the scale of their care operations recently, according to news in Healthcare Dive. The retail giant was aiming to offer 75 store-based health clinics by the end of this year but has now targeted 2025 for that milestone instead. “The current iteration of Walmart Health launched in 2019 …
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Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved the medication sotatercept, which traps activins that cause constriction of arteries in the lungs, leading to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Sotatercept targets a growth factor that is overproduced in PAH, reducing the risk of blood vessel thickening. The population with PAH is relatively small—diagnosed in 500 to 1,000 Americans annually and disproportionately affecting women between the ages of 30 and 60, according to the American Lung Association. …
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The share of the procedures provided in urgent care (UC) centers submitted on commercial insurance claims grew 207% from 2013 to 2022, according to an in-depth index report from nonprofit claims-data analysis organization FAIR Health. Teasing out single-year growth, utilization of urgent care centers increased 43% from 2021 to 2022. Growth of these “claim lines”—essentially individual procedures listed on insurance claims—echoes the robust growth in the number of urgent care clinics serving the nation overall, …
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Urgent Message: This narrative review of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) characterizes the specific evidence-based indications, previous studies on dosing and route, and side effects of these medications. It supports NSAIDs as an important class of medications in the management of acute pain in urgent care and emergency settings. Campbell Belisle Haley, MD; Andy T. Hsueh, MD; Chih-Hsuan Chen, MD; Ariana M. Nelson, MD Citation: Belisle Haley C, Hsueh AT, Chen CH, Nelson A. NSAIDs in …
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A compilation of 2022 and 2023 de novo urgent care center data shows a 7% decline in new locations: from 1,651 de novo centers in 2022 to 1,540 in 2023. A “de novo” center is a new urgent care location where services were not offered previously. The unit of measure is the physical site, meaning if an existing location already in operation happened to change ownership, such change is not counted as de novo growth. …
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