Practice Management
One of the knocks on development of the COVID-19 vaccines, from the public’s perspective, is that the process went so fast that people are convinced corners were cut. Many are simply afraid the vaccines aren’t safe. However, an article just published by JAMA Network indicates that the more patients are counseled on the vaccines, the more trusting and less hesitant they become. Participants in the Understanding America Study (UAS) of U.S. adults, conducted between October …
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The joy over reengaging with others and seeing local economies start to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic could be very short-lived if vaccination rates don’t increase—and soon, according to Scott Gottlieb, MD, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. In an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, Gottlieb predicted that transmission of the Delta variant of the virus, which JUCM News readers may recall has been shown in multiple studies to be more transmissible …
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People have been separated not only from many loved ones over the past year and a half, but also from many cherished outdoor activities and adventures. Now that so many pandemic-related restrictions have been lifted, schools are out, and summer is officially here Americans are venturing out into nature again with a vengeance. The problem is, sometimes nature can be a high-risk environment. Whether they’re on or in the water, playing tennis, mountain climbing, or …
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When a 6-year-old boy with a slight fever and thigh pain was brought to an urgent care center for evaluation, there were no red flags for anything ominous. The physician who saw the boy suspected nothing more than an infection, for which she prescribed an antibiotic. When the patient and his parents returned the next day to report that while the fever was gone the boy was still in pain, the physician ordered an x-ray. …
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Approval under the current Emergency Use Authorization for children ages 12 years and older to receive a COVID-19 vaccine was heralded as an important step forward in taming the pandemic. Some experts are now questioning the wisdom of doing so, however. An editorial in the British Medical Journal goes as far as to state that vaccinating children is “hard to justify right now for most children in most countries,” based mainly on the belief that …
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While the clinical team has had its hands full focusing on treating and trying to protect patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has maintained its focus on urgent care centers and other medical facilities as worksites. Now, having had more than a year to assess things, the agency has issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) designed to limit the risk of revitalizing the COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare workers. It requires …
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By now, most Americans who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine (which amounts to most Americans) have probably gotten it—unless they have opted not to. That can prove problematic from more than just a public health perspective when employers try to force the issue. Anecdotally, we’ve learned that a surprisingly high number of healthcare workers have refused to be immunized. So, it should be of interest that a federal judge in Texas just dismissed …
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Some individuals who are opting out of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine say they’re counting on yet-to-be-realized herd immunity to protect them from long-term risk of being infected with the virus. One of the emerging ironies of the pandemic is that so many of those people reside together in states with low rates that herd immunity is unlikely to occur. This may be especially concerning in light of data from the ZOE COVID Study in the …
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With many urgent care centers seeing net revenue of $120 per visit or less, case rate (flat fee) reimbursement disincentivizing a high level of care, and Medicaid reimbursement at less than $100 in most states, emerging changes in reimbursements for rural health clinics could be a powerful argument for looking at expansion in underserved “country” communities. The recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act includes updates to reimbursements for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), defined by the Centers …
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Masks are coming off, restaurants, stadiums, and theaters are welcoming patrons back, and summer vacation plans are coming to fruition. Claiming victory over the pandemic would be both premature and concerning, however, according to public health officials as quoted in an article just published by The Guardian. For one thing, the aforementioned relaxing of preventive measures will be a test of just how effective COVID-19 vaccines are in the real world as people dive back …
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