Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Becoming the Employer of Choice for the Emerging Urgent Care Workforce

By bnapolitano  /  November 1, 2018
Urgent message: A tight labor market combined with stagnant real wage growth and shifting worker expectations has placed the onus…
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Becoming the Employer of Choice for the Emerging Urgent Care Workforce

Avoid Wasting Your Employee’s Time

By bnapolitano  /  November 13, 2018
Urgent message: A manager’s words are important to employees, which is why sensitivity is required to avoid small talk being…
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Avoid Wasting Your Employee’s Time

Post Sports Injury Burn Due to Inappropriate Use of Cryotherapy

By bnapolitano  /  November 1, 2018
Urgent message: PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation) treatment is often advised to patients as part of sports soft…
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Post Sports Injury Burn Due to Inappropriate Use of Cryotherapy

An Urgent Care Approach to Influenza—Before Onset

By bnapolitano  /  November 1, 2018
Urgent message: The urgent care clinician must have a thorough understanding of different influenza types and strains, disease course, and…
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An Urgent Care Approach to Influenza—Before Onset

A 42-Year-Old Woman with Sudden Hip Pain

By bnapolitano  /  November 20, 2018
The patient is a 48-year-old woman who has had hip pain since joining her two sons and husband in a…
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A 42-Year-Old Woman with Sudden Hip Pain

Urgent Care News

Ranks of Unvaccinated Children Are Growing, Putting Others at Risk

Fewer young children are getting vaccination against many diseases than in years past, opening the …
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AHN Flagship Sees the Balance Between Urgent Care and the ED Tip

One of Alleghany Health Networks key hospitals saw more patients choose its urgent care centers …
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Thanksgiving: A Day of Gratitude—and Carelessness that Sends Many to Urgent Care and the ED

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year for urgent care centers that …
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MinuteClinic Goes Virtual in its 16th State—and CVS Says They’ll Reach the Rest by Year’s End

CVS Health’s MinuteClinic unit just started providing virtual healthcare in Nebraska, bringing the number of …
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Did Your Urgent Care Center See More Tick-Related Visits Last Year? You’re Not Alone

Using pooled data from state and local health departments across the country, the Centers for …
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Web Exclusive Articles

Avoid Wasting Your Employee’s Time

Urgent message: A manager’s words are important to employees, which is why sensitivity is required …
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Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in Urgent Care

Urgent message: Once a rarity in the urgent care setting, point-of-care ultrasound imaging capabilities are …
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Does Your Urgent Care Need a Chaperone Policy?

Urgent message: In today’s world of flying accusations of personal misconduct, having a clearly defined …
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Developing an Emergency Preparedness Plan for Urgent Care

Urgent Message: In order for urgent care to meet the on-demand healthcare needs of the …
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Is it Workaholism if You Love What You Do?

Urgent message: While the term “workaholic” has traditionally carried the stigma of addiction and resulting …
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Clinical Articles

An Urgent Care Approach to Influenza—Before Onset

Urgent message: The urgent care clinician must have a thorough understanding of different influenza types and strains, disease course, and …
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Syphilis in the Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: Seeking information beyond the stated history  can prompt  important information that informs the true diagnosis. This is especially …
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Employing the Parental Papoose Technique in Treating Young Children

Urgent message: Children presenting to the urgent care center are often in a state of distress and agitation—to the extent …
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The Approach to the Hypertensive Patient in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Previously undiagnosed hypertension is common among ambulatory patients, and urgent care providers are often the first to recognize …
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Practice Management Articles

Becoming the Employer of Choice for the Emerging Urgent Care Workforce

Urgent message: A tight labor market combined with stagnant real wage growth and shifting worker expectations has placed the onus …
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How Urgent Care is the Antidote to Traditional Doctors’ Offices

Urgent message: Changing consumer expectations have led experts to question the future viability of “traditional” doctors’ offices, but urgent care …
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Building Ethical Organizations and Teams

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The …
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Establishing Success Habits for Leaders and Organizations

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The …
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Insights in Images Challenges

An 11-Year-Old Boy with Groin Pain After Playing Soccer

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A 48-Year-Old Female Who ‘Rolled’ Her Ankle

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A 58-Year-Old Female With A New Infusion Port And Shoulder Pain

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A 35-Year-Old Man With Thumb Pain After A Fall

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A 20-Year-Old Male With Nasal Pain Following An Injury

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ECG Challenge: A 90-Year-Old Woman With Intermittent Lightheadedness

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JUCM CAREER CENTER

Download Past Issues

November 2018 : Prepare for Flu Season – and Prepare to Save Lives

CASE REPORTS

Post Sports Injury Burn Due to Inappropriate Use of Cryotherapy

Urgent message: PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation) treatment is often advised to patients as …
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A 32-Year-Old Male with Unsteady Gait

Urgent message: Early diagnosis and management of multiple sclerosis are crucial for long-term prognosis. Urgent care …
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Rhabdomyolysis in a Previously Healthy 33-Year-Old Man

Urgent message: Life-threatening degrees of rhabdomyolysis can be seen in young, healthy patients with stable presentation …
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Leg Pain in a 34-Year-Old Man

Urgent message: The ability to differentiate deep vein thrombosis from other diagnoses such as cellulitis is …
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Cervical Facetitis—An Unusual Cause of Neck Pain

Urgent message: Though neck pain is a common complaint among patients presenting to urgent care centers, …
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HEALTH LAW

The Tax, Legal, and Business Implications of Providing a Company Vehicle, Vehicle Allowance, or Mileage Reimbursement

Urgent message: The nature of a multisite urgent care business entails operations and clinical leadership travelling …
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Animals Used for Medical and Support Assistance in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Urgent care providers must be prepared to address the increasing presence of dogs and …
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HIPAA-Compliant Disclosure in Workers’ Compensation

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice …
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Which Way to Go: The Pros and Cons of 1099 vs W-2 Income for Urgent Care Physicians

Urgent message: To avoid running afoul of labor and tax laws, urgent care operators should understand …
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Effectively Utilizing 90-Day Probationary Periods for New Employees

Urgent message: A 90-day probationary period suspends the standard employment rules for new employees, enabling them …
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CLINICAL CHALLENGES

A 12-Year-Old Football Player with Sudden Hip Pain

Case The patient is a 12-year-old boy who presents with sudden hip pain that started simultaneously with a “popping feeling” …
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A 45-Year-Old Woman with Suddenly Discolored Skin

Case A 45-year-old woman presents with a complaint of “a brown spot” on her back. Upon examination, you confirm there …
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A 52-Year-Old Man Who Is Lightheaded and Dizzy

Case The patient is a 52-year-old man who presents to your urgent care center with lightheaded dizziness, which he says …
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A 16-Year-Old with Severe Pain and Immobility After a Basketball Mishap

Case The patient is a high school athlete who is brought to your urgent care center with severe pain in …
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A 62-Year-Old Woman with Palpitations

     Case The patient is a 62-year-old woman who presents to your urgent care center with a feeling of …
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OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE

Latest Drugs Added to Panel Turn Up More Often in Positive DOT Tests

The U.S. Department of Transportation added four semisynthetic opioids to its drug testing panel on the first of this year …
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Attention Occ Med Providers: FMCSA Loosens Up Rules on Diabetic Commercial Drivers

With publication of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) new Qualification of Drivers; Diabetes Standard, drivers who have insulin-treated …
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Boom in ‘Company Doctors’ Could Be a Boon for Urgent Care/Occ Med Providers

The popularity of workplace medical practices has waxed and waned for ages, but with major employers like Amazon and Apple …
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New Quest Diagnostics Data Show Drug Use Among Workers Remains High

It may come as no surprise to urgent care providers who offer occupational medicine services such as drug testing, but …
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Beware Patients Who’ll Go to Great—Great—Lengths to Pass Drug Tests

The opiate crisis and legalization of marijuana in some states has upped the ante for occupational medicine providers charged with …
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Revenue Cycle Management

Big Changes in Medicare Evaluation and Management Reimbursement

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the proposed changes for the Calendar Year (CY) 2019 Physician …
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Small Errors Could Cost Big Bucks When Billing for I&D

Q: While reviewing charts where incision and drainage (I&D) procedures were being performed, I came across instances where Current Procedural …
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2019 International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) Codes

October 1, 2018 will bring 279 new codes to ICD-10-CM. Combined with 51 deactivated codes (and 143 revised codes), that …
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Clarifying the Coding for Splint and Cast Application by Nonphysicians

Q: I would like clarification on an article I read in The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM) online archive …
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New Medicare Cards

Q: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) started issuing new Medicare cards to beneficiaries in April of this …
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DEVELOPING DATA

If You Want Your Providers to Get a Flu Shot, Make It a Requirement

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has spelled out the best way to ensure providers who work in your …
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Urgent Care Visits Go Up (and Up, and Up) While Costs Remain Low vs the ED

The key question posed by the authors of an article published last month in JAMA Internal Medicine: How have patterns …
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Warning: The Future of Patient Engagement May Require Straying Beyond Your Comfort Zone

Urgent care has faced many challenges since its inception—starting with trying to get healthcare consumers and insurers to understand what …
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Urgent Care Ownership: Corporations on the Rise, Physicians and Hospitals on the Decline

The urgent care industry—always revolutionary compared with other practice settings—is undergoing a revolution of its own. First, entrepreneurial physicians ruled …
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One More Look at Head Injury Presentations in Urgent Care

In this issue, we’ve offered an urgent care perspective on which patients presenting with head injury are most likely to …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts In Urgent Care – November 2018

From ID Week: Outbreak-Related Hep A Infections Are on the Rise Key point: Hepatitis A infection may be evolving from …
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Abstracts In Urgent Care – October 2018

New Data Show ‘Steep and Sustained’ Increase in STD Occurrence—Especially Syphilis Key point: Over the past 5 years, rates of …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – September 2018

WHO Announces ICD-11, Coming Next Year Key point: New set will reflect current terminologies and classifications, integrate more smoothly with …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – July 2018

CDC Attributes 200+ Cases of Coagulopathy to Synthetic Cannaboids Key point: “Marijuana alternatives” are widely available—and being blamed for multiple …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2018

Some Oral Antibiotics Up Risk for Kidney Stones Key point: Oral antibiotics are associated with an increased risk for nephrolithiasis …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Urgent Care and Antibiotics: Advancing Care and Stewardship

Antimicrobial stewardship is defined as a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials (including antibiotics), improves patient outcomes, …
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Anger Management: Hostile Encounters in Urgent Care

Eliminating disruption, distraction, and dissatisfaction is paramount to delivering efficient and high-quality care these days. More than ever, urgent cares …
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Slow Medicine: ‘Unprescribing’ America

#TimesUp; #NeverAgain; #Privacy; #OpioidCrisis; #BlackLivesMatter…. The last year has been a dramatic one for turning points in long-festering social issues …
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Chasing Flu: Predictably Unpredictable

I have managed urgent cares for nearly 20 years and can officially say that predicting flu is for fools! Perhaps …
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The Change Gang: Adopting a Disruptive Culture

We’ve all heard it: Why do we have to change? This is the way we’ve always done things! Change is …
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