Playing in the Band

Playing in the Band

I got my first guitar when I was 14. It was an Alvarez acoustic with an electric pick-up, and I played it every day—at least for a while. I thought it would make me cool and make the girls take notice. But after about a year, when neither of those things had happened, I just about gave up the guitar for good. There simply wasn’t much joy in always playing alone. What revived and has …

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Urgent Care—It’s a Millennial’s Market

Urgent Care—It’s a Millennial’s Market

In terms of services offered, urgent care “should” appeal to patients of all ages. And it does. But to which age groups does it appeal the most? If you guessed “Millennials, ” you’re right—and that’s nothing new, according to the FH Healthcare Indicators and FH Medical Price Index 2022. In fact, those born between 24 and 39 years of age in 2020, when the data were collected, have been urgent care’s top customers for several years …

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As COVID Turns Endemic, Investors Remain Bullish on Urgent Care Growth

As COVID Turns Endemic, Investors Remain Bullish on Urgent Care Growth

Urgent message: De novo growth of urgent care continued through the pandemic. As COVID turns endemic, investors remain bullish on urgent care growth. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc  Despite concerns about fluctuating visit volumes and long-term sustainability, uncertainty and urgent care have always gone hand in hand. Case in point: Largely driven by flu, the urgent care industry has firsthand insight into years of flu research, seasonal trends, and vaccine efficacy. Yet amid everything we …

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Decreasing Denials and Rejections Through Your Urgent Care Operating Model

A wise person once said, “If a claim is rejected or denied, the energy to get it paid is five times the energy if it went through as a clean claim.” Maybe it is only four times or three times the work, but the point is that we should all do everything we can to avoid rejections and denials! Unlike more complicated specialties subject to complicated coding, authorization, and other factors, in an urgent care …

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Urgent Care Centers Can Reduce ED Referrals for CT Scans in Mild Head Injury with Integration of Brain Activity Biomarker

Urgent Care Centers Can Reduce ED Referrals for CT Scans in Mild Head Injury with Integration of Brain Activity Biomarker

Urgent message: Referrals to the ED for CT scans were reduced when urgent care providers combined clinical judgement with EEG-based structural injury biomarker results. Such reductions could relieve the burden of referrals to EDs, minimize unnecessary radiation risk, yield better patient experience, and foster to potential cost savings. Tanvir Dara MD, FACEP; Elizabeth McCarty MD; Paul Meredith MD; Robert Mooney MD; David Porzio MD; and Alvaro Zeballos MD Citation: Dara T, McCarty E, Meredith P, …

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Why Private Equity and Other ‘Smart Money’ Is Bullish on Brick-and-Mortar Urgent Care

Why Private Equity and Other ‘Smart Money’ Is Bullish on Brick-and-Mortar Urgent Care

Urgent message: Despite the current seasonal, postpandemic lull in volume, sophisticated investors are focused on the long-term growth prospects of urgent care in terms of new rooftops, new patient populations, new services, and new payers…among others. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Even for those who are “tenured” in the urgent care industry—the last 24 months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a rough ride. If 100% were baseline volume, the average urgent care saw volume …

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Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2022

Maximizing the Value of Urine Dipstick Testing Screening for Intimate Partner Violence Antibiotics for Children with RTI Azithromycin in Pediatric Viral Infection Self-Monitoring BP with Unvalidated Devices Modified Valsalva Maneuver in SVT To Mix or Not to Mix COVID-19 Vaccines? Ivan Koay, MBChB, FRNZCUC, MD Nitrofurantoin Resistance Take-home point: Proteeae group bacteria, which are often resistant to nitrofurantoin, normally result in alkaline (ie, high pH) urine on dipstick testing. Citation: Sheele J, Libertin C, Fink …

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Physical Therapy as Nonsurgical Management and Presurgical Management of Most Common Knee Pathologies

Physical Therapy as Nonsurgical Management and Presurgical Management of Most Common Knee Pathologies

Urgent message: Appreciation for the cause of knee pain, along with an understanding of potential nonoperative rehabilitation therapies that could be provided in urgent care, can enhance patient care and improve patient satisfaction while minimizing the need for referral. Dr. Eva Delgado Martinez MBChB, GP, MScCN and Dr. Ivan Koay MBChB, FRNZCUC, MD INTRODUCTION Knee injuries in adults and children are common presentations to urgent care and emergency rooms.1 Rehabilitation of those injuries is essential …

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