What to Do When You Get Named in a Malpractice Suit

JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Your front office receptionist informs you that there is a man at the door who says he is a process server, and that he wants you to sign for a registered letter. Your first thought, of course, is to run out the back door of your office or to simply feign a stroke. Instead, common sense prevails and you sign for the letter informing you that you are a …

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Telephone Consultations From the Urgent Care Center: An Educational Model

Telephone Consultations From the Urgent Care Center: An Educational Model

Urgent message: Communication between UC providers and consultant physicians can facilitate timely, efficacious patient management OR it can damage trust between the treating physician and the consultant. Kenneth V. Iserson, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAAEM, Professor of Emergency Medicine, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ Urgent care providers, as much as or more than any other specialist, must call consultants to admit, refer, appropriately treat, or obtain follow-up for their patients. At many urgent care centers, …

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On Antibiotic-Seeking, Predicting Prognosis in Rhinosinusitis and Mortality in Head Injuries, and When to Use Antibiotics in Conjunctivitis

Are Sore Throat Patients Who Hope for Antibiotics Actually Asking for Pain Relief? Citation: van Driel ML, De Sutter A, Deveugele M, et al. Ann Fam Med. 2006;4:484-485. URL: http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/content/full/4/6/494 Key point: The desire for pain relief is a strong predictor of the hope to receive a prescription for antibiotics. Antibiotics are still over prescribed for self-limiting upper respiratory tract infections such as acute sore throat; physicians point to patients’ desire for antibiotics as a …

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Clinical Challenge: February, 2007

The patient is a healthy 38-year-old who presents with progressive abdominal pain. There is no fever, vom- iting, or diarrhea. Upon examination, you find: No peritoneal signs Pulse is 55 Blood pressure is 118/50 The only remarkable finding when the history is taken is that the patient had corrective heart surgery as a child. View the x-rays taken (Figure 1 and Figure 2) and consider what your next steps would be. Resolution of the case …

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Why I Practice Urgent Care Medicine

Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP Nothing represents the breadth and scope of medicine quite like urgent care. The variety of complaints is daunting and requires a lifelong commitment to learning. Specialist back-up is scarce and diagnostics limited. Ultimately, the best care stems from a passion for examining the layers of each story, watching, listening, and compiling. Cultural, gender, and age biases can serve to guide our investigations  or derail them: Where is this patient coming …

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Insight in Images – Clinical Challenge: Case 2

A 53-year-old female presents after experiencing a fall with a blow to the knee several hours earlier. Upon examination, you find: No fluid in the knee The knee is stable Patient is able to put weight on the affected knee Mildly decreased range of motion due to generalized pain in the area (though not over the patella) View Figure 1, take these findings into account, and consider what your next steps would be. Resolution of …

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Type of Structures Housing Urgent Care Clinics

UCAOA’S Survey Committee drew two important conclusions from its first industry-wide survey: urgent care is a growing industry nationwide, and those within the industry are hungry for benchmarking data. In each issue of JUCM, Developing Data will seek to fulfill that need. In this issue, who owns, who leases, and where are they located?More than half (53%) of the survey participants own the buildings in which their practice is located; 47% lease. The average business …

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