Practice Management
Spring has officially arrived, and with the snow continuing to melt it won’t be long before seasonal allergens are in full bloom. Urgent care physicians are reminded, however, that symptoms of allergic reactions to pollen and ragweed can be identical to those seen in patients who are allergic to cannabis, ranging from mild sinusitis to acute exacerbations of asthma. Since allergy panels don’t typically test for reaction to marijuana, the only way to get a …
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Whether it’s due to changes in the healthcare insurance landscape, the habits of millennials, or just plain societal evolution, the public continues to recognize urgent care as a viable option more every year—reflected in the increasing number of centers around the country (up 10% since 2015, according to the Urgent Care Association of America). Hospitals were a little late to the party, but are making up for lost time by continuing to open their own …
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Righttime Medical Care has developed a program within its urgent care practice for assessing patients, often young athletes, for concussion. Called HeadFirst Sports Injury and Concussion Care, it boasts clinical staff trained in FDA-approved baseline tests. As with any new idea, however, the challenge is making sure the people who need your services know you’re there. Righttime hit upon the right idea when they linked their own promotional efforts to the Brain Injury Association of …
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Freestanding emergency rooms have been roundly criticized for their billing practices, most often as a result of “surprise bills” that patients don’t feel they should have to pay and insurers absolutely refuse to consider. In addition to angering patients and inspiring legislators to draft new consumer-protection laws, though, many freestanding ER companies are having a tough time getting paid at all. Adeptus, considered the leading provider in the industry, has been especially hard hit. Its …
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Telemedicine has been shown to provide valuable access for patients who otherwise might not be able to see a physician in person. Unfortunately, not all patients have gotten the message that it’s best used as an alternative to heading to the doctor’s office; instead, they follow a virtual visit with a face-to-face encounter, thereby costing themselves and/or their insurers money unnecessarily. When RAND crunched data on CalPERS Blue Shield members who used Teledoc virtual visit …
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With the opioid addiction crisis hanging over their heads, physicians are constantly weighing the risk vs benefit of prescribing narcotics for patients in extreme pain. This can be especially tough when treating younger patients who’ve sustained an injury, such as those increasingly common in youth sports. Many physicians who specialize in sports medicine have started using a multimodal approach that employs counseling, physical therapy, and even nerve blocks. Some states have launched efforts (and even …
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In November, we told you the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was urging clinicians to “act now to better understand, contain, and stop the spread of” infection caused by drug-resistant Candida auris. Since then, the number of C auris cases in the U.S. has more than doubled (from 13 to 35, with 28 of them occurring in New York alone). C auris can cause serious bloodstream infections, transmits easily from person-to-person in healthcare settings, …
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Conventional wisdom says that urgent care is the place to go unless a patient has life- or limb-threatening problems. Even typically benign illness like strep throat can turn into something far worse if it’s not diagnosed and treated correctly, however. In one extreme case detailed on The Today Show website, a Michigan man ended up losing fingers and parts of his feet after a missed diagnosis of strep ultimately led to septic shock that nearly …
Read MoreOf the survey participants, most (78%) manage billing with in-house staff, while the rest contract for their billing services or use other methods. Such billing efforts cost an average amount of $215.91 per patient—about $3,336,967 per site and $8,876,333 per urgent care center. Small wonder, then, that 14% of respondents cannot yet call their business “profitable.”
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You’ve read here that mumps has been spreading like wildfire in certain states, especially on college campuses and among school-aged children. Instead of winding down, however, outbreaks are actually picking up steam in multiple states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, underscoring the need for urgent care centers to help raise awareness about prevention in their communities. The CDC says cases of mumps has been confirmed in 37 states and the District …
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