Practice Management
GoHealth Urgent Care has announced another health system joint venture, this time with Community Health Network in central Indiana. As part of the deal, 6 existing Community MedCheck urgent care centers will transition later this year to the Community-GoHealth Urgent Care brand, according to a press release. Future growth through new rooftops is also part of the long-term strategy. Earlier this month, GoHealth announced a similar joint venture for 81 UPMC centers in Pennsylvania and …
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A new analysis examining survey data from 37,000 physicians across all healthcare specialties found the average physician reported a 3.7% increase in pay, following a nearly 6% increase from the same survey just a year ago, conducted by physician-networking platform Doximity. The perpetual gender gap—in which women physicians are paid significantly less than their male counterparts—shows no sign of catching up. In this year’s survey, there is a 26% gap between women and men after …
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is aiming to construct a healthcare resource that has been notoriously difficult to create: a national provider directory. For decades, policies attempting to hold managed care organizations responsible for keeping up-to-date directories of their in-network physician practices, hospitals, surgery centers, and the like have been impractical for insurers to comply with and nearly impossible for policymakers to enforce. Reports of error-filled “ghost networks” that misrepresent the real-world …
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Piedmont Urgent Care has announced 2 separate expansions of its network this month. First, it acquired 4 MedPlus Immediate Care locations in the central Georgia region. With the addition of the Dublin, Eastman, Milledgeville and Macon, Georgia, centers, Piedmont now operates 6 urgent care centers with growth plans for the future, according to a press release. The branding at the centers will transition from MedPlus Immediate Care to Piedmont Urgent Care by the end of …
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A new urgent care has opened in Mercer County, Pennsylvania , but it’s not quite the rooftop most patients might expect. Thru Care is a drive-through center where patients check in at a drive-up window then complete their visit with a video monitor that connects them to the on-site clinician. The center accepts insurance or offers a flat $75 per visit fee, including medication fills for any prescription drugs that are in-stock at the center. …
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A new joint venture combines a hospital system in New Jersey with an urgent care network, creating AM/PM Urgent Care with Englewood Health. Established in 2013, AM/PM Walk-in Urgent Care is owned by CEO Wesley Thek, MD. Its partner, Englewood Health, has 100 locations, delivering inpatient and outpatient care. The combined entity serves 2 counties in New Jersey with 8 urgent care centers as well as virtual care. Over time, the plan is to expand …
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Healthcare spending may show signs of moderating starting next year, but the trendline will continue its sharp upward climb nonetheless, according to new numbers released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in Health Affairs. Overall, expect annual spending to reach $5.6 trillion this year, eventually climbing to $8.6 trillion by 2033. Health spending will likely consume 20.3% of GDP by 2033. Growth in 2024 is projected at 8.2%, followed by 7.1% growth …
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Nearly 800 rural hospitals across the United States are struggling financially with as many as 40% facing the immediate threat of closure, according to an analysis by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, which reviewed the most recent hospital cost reports submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through June 2025. The center’s report categorizes rural hospitals into 2 levels of financial risk: those generally at risk; and those in immediate …
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A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis ranking states according to the number of emergency department (ED) visits found that West Virginia had the highest number of ED visits (596 per 1,000), while Nevada had the fewest (226 per 1,000) in 2023. The organization analyzed the most recent available community hospital data from the 1999-2023 American Hospital Association Annual Survey and compared it to population reports from the Census Bureau. Below are the top 10 states …
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Legislation in 2022 sought to expand access to the opioid use disorder treatment drug buprenorphine by eliminating previous caps on the number of patients a prescribing provider could manage and by eliminating prescriber waiver requirements. At the same time, pharmacists with prescribing authority were permitted to directly prescribe the medication without a collaborative agreement with a physician, although state-specific restrictive criteria could still apply. As a result of these changes, there was a significant increase …
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