Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Trump Administration Promotes Patient Ownership of Health Data

The White House and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are promoting a move toward greater patient ownership of their own medical records—which would also bolster interoperability among providers, they say. If the MyHealthEData initiative is successful, its proponents say it could help save some of the 400,000 lives lost annually because providers don’t have timely access to a patient’s complete medical history. CMS Director Seema Verma framed the plan in the context of …

Bill Would Restrict Opioid Prescriptions for Acute Pain to 3 Days Nationally

Efforts to reduce access to opioid medications for acute pain have varied greatly from state to state, in spite of President Trump’s declaration that related addiction and deaths constitute a public health emergency. Now, a bipartisan bill just introduced in Congress would impose a national policy if it passes, restricting prescriptions for opioids for acute pain to 3 days (ample for the urgent care setting). Significantly, the bill would also authorize adding $1 billion to …

Ohio Bill Aims to Make It Harder for Insurers to Deny ED Claims

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield raised the ire of hospitals, some physicians, and patient-advocacy groups when it enacted a policy of denying claims for ED visits it eventually deems to have been nonemergent. A new bill in Ohio would put a stop to that practice as it now exists, on the grounds that the policy amounts to noncompliance with state insurance regulations. As such, Anthem would lose standing to secure state government contracts, as well …

More States Try to Address Opioid Crisis Legislatively

West Virginia and Florida are the latest states to seek a legislative solution to the nation’s ongoing crisis of opioid misuse, abuse, and related deaths. In West Virginia, the state senate just voted unanimously to limit new painkiller prescriptions for most patients to a 7-day supply, though the number would be lower for urgent care centers and emergency rooms (4 days) and for dentists and ophthalmologists (3 days). Florida is looking at a bill that …

Bill Could Raise the Need for Workplace Drug Tests

A proposed new law could increase employers’ reliance on contractors who conduct worker drug screens—such as urgent care providers who offer occupational medicine services—if passed by state legislators in Maine. The bill would give employers more power to order drug screens for workers by loosening probable-cause requirements and permitting employers to order a test after a single workplace mishap or other signs of impairment. The bill’s proponents say the laws on the books haven’t kept …

Attention Operators: You Won't Have to Report Pay by Gender, Race After All

When President Trump took office, he vowed to take steps to make life easier for business operators. The White House just announced one step in that direction would be reversing an Obama administration decision to make employers, including urgent care operators, report how much they paid workers and break down the data by gender, race, and ethnicity. Obama believed doing so would help quantify (and ultimately curb) pay discrimination, while Trump maintains that the process …

Connecticut Tries (Again) to Regulate Urgent Care Centers

Connecticut lawmakers apparently think “If at first you don’t succeed…” is the perfect approach to slapping licensing fees on the urgent care industry. Democrats in the state House of Representatives have inserted a provision in the current proposed budget that would require all urgent care centers there to carry a distinct license. The problem (for them) is, they don’t have an abiding definition of what constitutes an urgent care center. Currently, the law views urgent …

FDA’s Gottlieb Wants More Rigorous Standards for Prescribing Opiates

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD says his agency needs to do more to help stem the opioid-addiction epidemic in the United Sates. For starters, he wants the FDA to impose stricter guidelines for prescribing immediate-release opioid drugs. The first step will be for the agency to expand training for physicians, nurses, and other providers who administer immediate-release opioids. While there is already training available, the FDA says it will now broaden information …

Proposed Federal Budget Could Affect Urgent Care Staffing Costs

One component of President Trump’s proposed budget could have significant impact on urgent care staffing if it remains part of the final version ultimately approved by Congress. Specifically, Trump’s plan—which is likely to be substantially rewritten as it goes through the House and Senate—would ensure 6 weeks of paid leave for both mothers and fathers after the birth of a baby. Some large employers have already instituted similar policies voluntarily, but smaller companies (eg, many …

California Looks at $400 Billion (with a B) Single-Payer Bill

Some California legislators are hoping to push through a single-payer healthcare bill that would cost the state an estimated $400 billion—more than the entire national budget of Honduras (and 116 more countries across the globe). If passed, the bill would in effect eliminate health insurance companies there and provide government-funded health coverage for all residents. If it needs to be said, funding the plan would require “significant tax increases,” according to legislative analysts. On the …