Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Perfecting the Consumer Financial Experience in Your Urgent Care Center

By bnapolitano  /  April 1, 2019
Urgent message: Changes to insurance plan design are resulting in increased financial exposure for patients, with urgent care providers scrambling…
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Perfecting the Consumer Financial Experience in Your Urgent Care Center

Planned DocuTAP-Practice Velocity Merger Would Be a Game-Changer in Urgent Care

By bnapolitano  /  April 15, 2019
Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing, plans to merge DocuTAP and Practice Velocity—the two…
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Planned DocuTAP-Practice Velocity Merger Would Be a Game-Changer in Urgent Care

A 44-Year-Old Man with Cough of Several Weeks’ Duration

By bnapolitano  /  April 1, 2019
Urgent message: Lung cancer—the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States—may first present with relatively benign symptoms and…
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A 44-Year-Old Man with Cough of Several Weeks’ Duration

Suspected Pertussis in Infants and Adolescents—What to do?

By bnapolitano  /  April 1, 2019
Urgent message: Familiarity with the schedule for immunization against pertussis, as well as expertise in diagnosing and prescribing treatment, should…
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Suspected Pertussis in Infants and Adolescents—What to do?

A 12-Year-Old Male with a 6-Month History of Knee Pain and Swelling

By bnapolitano  /  April 15, 2019
The patient is a 12-year-old boy who presents with a 6-month history of bilateral tibial tuberosity pain with swelling. His…
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A 12-Year-Old Male with a 6-Month History of Knee Pain and Swelling

Urgent Care News

Online Review Sites May Be Driving More Patients to Visit a Practice—Is Yours One of Them?

Urgent care has benefited from (or perhaps driven) the trend of patients wanting to see …
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Opioid Crisis Brings Out the Worst in Some Providers, But the Best in Others

Awareness of the opioid crisis plaguing the country has risen sufficiently that responsible healthcare providers …
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As Summer Approaches, Be on the Lookout for Seasonal Outreach Possibilities

As even the most frigid regions of the continental U.S. embrace spring and look forward …
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Update: Measles Cases Continue to Escalate in More States

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the number of measles …
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Does Offering PrEP Services Increase Risk for ‘Other’ Sexually Transmitted Infections?

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV infection is controversial. Proponents hail it as a long-overdue opportunity …
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Web Exclusive Articles

Planned DocuTAP-Practice Velocity Merger Would Be a Game-Changer in Urgent Care

Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing, plans to merge …
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How to Make Yourself Indispensable

Urgent message: In today’s rapidly changing and hypercompetitive business environment, you don’t have to “reinvent …
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How to Manage a Toxic Employee

Urgent message: An urgent care center cannot afford to retain employees who undermine work, demoralize …
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Building Engaged, Productive Teams by Saying Thank You

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care, LLC and …
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How to Deal with That Colleague Who Turns into a Jerk Whenever the Boss is Gone

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is …
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Clinical Articles

Suspected Pertussis in Infants and Adolescents—What to do?

Urgent message: Familiarity with the schedule for immunization against pertussis, as well as expertise in diagnosing and prescribing treatment, should …
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Initiating PrEP Services in Urgent Care

Urgent message: Urgent care centers may offer opportunities to provide preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services for HIV due to large numbers …
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Postoperative Complications in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Patients who have had recent surgical procedures may present to urgent care centers for reasons ranging from seeking …
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Unexpected Viral Illness in an Urgent Care Setting: The Re-Emergence of Mumps, Measles, and Varicella

 Urgent message: Urgent care providers often see acute public health emergencies due to easy patient accessibility. It is important to …
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Practice Management Articles

Perfecting the Consumer Financial Experience in Your Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: Changes to insurance plan design are resulting in increased financial exposure for patients, with urgent care providers scrambling …
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End Users and Consolidators: The Next Possible Wave of Transactions in Urgent Care

Urgent message: The idea of a “typical” urgent care operation buyer is evolving along with the industry. While private equity …
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When the ‘Inner Entrepreneur’ Needs to Step Aside

Urgent message: Being an aggressive founder who is willing to take risks is invaluable when it comes to starting and …
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Dealing with the Emotional Impact of a Merger or Acquisition

Urgent message: Urgent care has seen significant merger and acquisition activity in recent years, which is certain to cause worries, frustrations …
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Insights in Images Challenges

A 37-Year-Old Man with Multiple Symptoms Following a Trip to Japan

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An 18-Month-Old With An Itchy Rash And Wheezing

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A 40-Year-Old Female with Progressively Worse Cough and Fever

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A 55-Year-Old Man With A 2-Day History Of Respiratory Symptoms, Palpitations, And Dizziness

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A 57-Year-Old Man with a Chief Complaint of Syncope 3 Hours Ago

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A 47-Year-Old Woman With Hip Pain After Exercise

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JUCM CAREER CENTER

Download Past Issues

April 2019 : Treating the Patient— and Protecting Close Contacts— When Pertussis Strikes 

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

CASE REPORTS

A 44-Year-Old Man with Cough of Several Weeks’ Duration

Urgent message: Lung cancer—the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States—may first present with …
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Infection Masquerading as a Fall in the Elderly

Urgent message: Falls in the elderly may be mechanical or due to an underlying etiology, making …
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Shortness of Breath in a Postprocedural Pneumothorax

Urgent message: Patient histories can be helpful in guiding the examination and raising red flags for …
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Cat Scratch Disease Presenting as Parinaud’s Oculoglandular Syndrome

Urgent message: Cat scratch disease caused by the bacteria Bartonella henselae typically presents as isolated lymphadenopathy …
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A Pregnant Mother Presenting to Urgent Care with Chickenpox

Urgent message: Failure to correctly diagnose and provide immediate treatment for varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection …
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HEALTH LAW

What Exactly Are Whistleblower Lawsuits—and How Can You Protect Your Urgent Care Operation?

Urgent message: The increasingly visibility of “whistleblower cases,” in which employees share in any fines from …
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What is the Liability for an Urgent Care Slandering a Competitor on Social Media?

Urgent message: While competition for patients among urgent care operators can be intense, speaking negatively of …
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The Finer Points of Video Surveillance in an Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: The increasing use of video surveillance in urgent care requires an awareness of the …
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Education is Key to Avoiding Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Crime

Urgent message: As digital communication becomes more integral to our daily lives and job functions, cybercriminals …
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What Happens if You Break a Commercial Lease?

Urgent message: Whether starting a new urgent care center and entering into a lease for the …
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CLINICAL CHALLENGES

A 57-Year-Old Man with a Chief Complaint of Syncope 3 Hours Ago

Case The patients is a 57-year-old man with a complaint of syncope 3 hours before arrival. He states he was …
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A 40-Year-Old Female with Progressively Worse Cough and Fever

Case The patient is a 40-year-old woman who presents with cough and fever that has been getting worse “for a …
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A 37-Year-Old Man with Multiple Symptoms Following a Trip to Japan

Case The patient is a 37-year-old man who presents to urgent care complaining of fever, nausea, and abdominal pain. He …
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An 18-Month-Old with an Itchy Rash and Wheezing

Case The patient is an 18-month-old girl brought to your urgent care center by her parents. They report that she …
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A 55-Year-Old Man with a 2-Day History of Respiratory Symptoms, Palpitations, and Dizziness

Case A 55-year-old male presented to urgent care with a chief complaint of coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest palpitations, …
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OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE

National Safety Council Stresses the Importance of Workplace Education on Opioids

As we told you in January, new data from the National Safety Council (NSC) revealed that the odds of dying …
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New York May Call on Telemedicine to Improve Access Under Workers’ Comp

Urgent care operators that offer occupational medicine in New York may want to consider what it would take to start …
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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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Revenue Cycle Management

Correct Modifiers Make All the Difference When Coding for X-ray Services

Q: During a recent internal audit of claims where x-rays were being billed, it was brought to my attention that …
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UnitedHealthcare Discontinuing S9083 and S9088 in Multiple States and Medicare Telehealth Policies

Beginning April 1, 2019 UnitedHealthcare will revise their policies to discontinue reimbursement for HCPCS code S9083, “Global fee urgent care …
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Navigating the Credentialing Process to Maximize Revenue and Minimize Denials

What is the best way to get my practitioners credentialed with various insurance companies and networks? It is frustrating to …
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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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DEVELOPING DATA

Does Your Website Show Patients How Much Financial Flexibility You Offer?

This month’s Practice Management feature article, Perfecting the Consumer Financial Experience in Your Urgent Care Center, reveals that with increasing …
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Proof: Availability of Urgent Care Lowers ED Traffic—and Could Save Up to $1 Billion

It has always seemed self-evident that urgent care centers, offering a lower-cost and usually faster experience that is also on …
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Can Urgent Care and Advanced Practice Providers Fill the Void as PCP Numbers Dwindle?

The much-discussed shortage in primary care physicians isn’t going to get any better over the coming decades. In fact, it’s …
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The Connection Between Age and Choosing a Healthcare Setting

If you’ve worked in more than one setting—say, a traditional primary care office and an urgent care center—you’ve probably noticed …
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Flu Shot Coverage and Effectiveness—a Historical Perspective

Patients who heed your advice to get a flu shot and take common-sense measures to avoid spreading germs—regular, effective handwashing; …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts In Urgent Care – April 2019

Rethinking IV Antibiotics for Cellulitis Key point: Oral antibiotics are noninferior to parenteral antibiotics for uncomplicated cellulitis. Erythema of cellulitis …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care-March 2019

Practice of Urgent Care: More Patients, More Decisions, More Fatigue Key point: We should be aware, as clinicians, that as …
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Abstracts In Urgent Care – February 2019

Check the Temps: A Timely Throwback Key points: Peripheral temperatures (ie, temporal, tympanic, oral, and axillary) are inaccurate and cannot …
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Abstracts In Urgent Care – January 2019

A Brief Introduction Happy New Year! 2018 is now behind us and it was another great year for urgent care …
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Abstracts In Urgent Care – December 2018

The Year in Abstracts: Top Papers of 2018 for the Urgent Care Clinician Reviewed by Andy S. Barnett, MD  This …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I’m Not a Lawyer, But I Play One…

Like many of you, the fear of a medical malpractice claim casts a wide shadow over everything I do. Like …
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Longitudinal Assessment: A Dent in the ABMS Armor?

With the volume of dissent against Maintenance of Certification (MOC) now at a fever pitch, American Board of Medical Specialties …
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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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