Practice Management
Case An 8-year-old boy presents to an urgent care center with left knee pain that he has had for 3 days. The pain is worse with walking, and his mother says that he has been limping and will not put full weight on the leg. He reports no trauma, fever, vomiting, or numbness. His mother reports that she has given him ibuprofen but that this has not relieved his pain. View the image taken (Figure …
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A 46-year-old weekend warrior presents to an urgent care center 3 hours after injuring his right ankle and foot while playing basketball. He reports moderate to severe pain over the lateral side of the ankle and foot, which started after he jumped for a rebound and came down on the foot while it was in plantar flexion and inverted. However, he can walk. He reports no paresthesia or pain at the midfoot or proximal fibula, …
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Urgent message: Though the cause of nonspecific numbness and tingling will often be benign, serious illnesses should be included in the differential diagnosis. Introduction Many patients at urgent care centers present with numbness and tingling. The symptoms can be caused by variety of underlying benign or potentially malignant pathologies. The medical history and physical examination play a central role in the determination of the cause of numbness. Numbness that is limited to a part of a limb suggests mononeuropathy, whereas numbness that involves most …
Read MoreUrgent message: In the midst of the controversy in the United States surrounding the right to bear arms and concealed-carry laws, the medical field has also been wrestling with the issue. Some patients, facility personnel, and facility visitors will carry weapons. Thus, it is important that urgent care managers be prepared by identifying which issues regarding weapons they should focus on and what they and their personnel may be able to do when an encounter involves a weapon. Guns in …
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Urgent message: Key performance indicators provide the yardstick by which urgent care strategy and execution are tracked over time, highlighting areas requiring management intervention, facilitating comparison with peers, and enabling a culture of continual improvement. Introduction Key performance indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable business metrics used by organizations to gauge various aspects of their performance over time. Regular monitoring and evaluation of KPIs help provide insight into an organization’s financial health and spotlight organizational strengths and weaknesses. KPIs are also used to set strategic and …
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Urgent message: The etiology of nonhealing wounds is often multifactorial, with the likelihood of healing enhanced if all considerations are addressed, including evaluation and management of the blood supply in patients with peripheral arterial disease or diabetes mellitus, as well as local wound care. The diagnosis of a nonhealing wound is largely clinical, with diagnostic studies tailored to the suspected cause as well as to the underlying process. Part 1 of this article [see “Nonhealing Wounds, Part 1: Diagnosis in the Urgent Care …
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Many urgent care centers are well prepared to administer travel-related vaccines for tourists bound for the Olympics or ready to set sail on a cruise. What about closer to home, though? With school out and vacationing in, would the first aid center at the water park and the manager of that motel off the interstate think of your urgent care center when they need to refer a guest who needs immediate care? You should 1) …
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Healthcare costs are growing at a slower pace than in years past, but they’re still rising faster than the overall inflation rate, according to new data from the PwC Health Research Institute. That means the pressure is still on insurers and employers (not to mention everyday people who pay out of pocket) to make sure their own costs are kept in check. Urgent care has the chance to play the hero in this scenario by …
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New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that one out of every five Americans visits a hospital emergency room at least once a year, with California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas accounting for more than a third of all ED visits nationally. The report also reconfirms that most of these patients are adults who are not admitted to the hospital. Of interest to urgent care operators, the national rate for …
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If permitted in your municipality, window decals can enhance the appearance of your center, make your brand visible at eye-level to pedestrians on a city street (important if your signage is near the top of your building), and educate the community as to your various services. For example, there’s an OPTUM Urgent Care location in Plano, TX in the out-lot of a high-traffic SuperTarget store that uses its window decals to market a wide array …
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