Practice Management
Don’t be surprised if patients who have “recovered” from COVID-19 present with concerns that they might not be getting better after all. A research letter just published online by JAMA Network indicates that most patients have persistent symptoms of infection even 60+ days after diagnosis. Based on 143 confirmed cases in Italy, they report that 87.4 of patients complained of at least one symptoms of COVID-19 even after meeting World Health Organization criteria for discontinuing …
Read More
Friction is something to be avoided, typically, whether it’s in coworker relationships, marriage, or even your car’s engine. The same holds true when trying to engage prospective patients in an urgent care center. Anything that adds a burden to the patient’s attempt to get care—unnecessary steps, unexpected waits, billing headaches—will make them think twice about where they choose to get that care. Reducing friction, conversely, gives them a pleasant experience they’re more likely to want …
Read More
The Small Business Administration just released new details of its Paycheck Protection Program—including which businesses (including urgent care centers) will be identified publicly by name; the status of “loan forgiveness” considerations; and extension of the PPP through August 8. The SBA released the names of businesses that borrowed more than $150,000 through the PPP. Businesses that borrowed less remain anonymous. The SBA has not started accepting applications for loan forgiveness yet. Banks that are facilitating …
Read More
Two new studies have shown that elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG), whether a patient has been diagnosed with diabetes or not, could be a risk factor for severe illness in patients with COVID-19. Authors of the first study, based on patients at a hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, found an FBG of ≥6.23 mmol/L to be an optimal cutoff for poor prognosis within 30 days of hospital admission, …
Read More
A clearer picture of the effects of COVID-19 on the eyes of infected patients is emerging in new data from Hubei province, China. Researchers there have found ocular manifestations including epiphora, conjunctival congestion, and other conditions occur commonly in patients with confirmed COVID-19. While the retrospective study was small (38 patients), it produced several results that could be helpful to urgent care providers who treat patients without other, more definitive signs of disease. Roughly one …
Read More
The World Health Organization has been at the forefront of proposing how COVID-19 is transmitted, with the main theory being that one person becomes infected by taking in relatively large droplets expelled when someone with the virus coughs, sneezes, speaks, etc. However, 239 scientists from 32 countries signed a letter claiming that even smaller particles can carry the virus—so small that they’re essentially wafting through the air from one side of a room to another, …
Read More
Every American is under additional stress these days, whether it’s due to having to adapt to a new way of working, the strain of social isolation, worry over an at-risk family member, or illness itself. That burden is multiplied for urgent care providers and other clinicians, of course, as they’re on the frontlines of the crisis. An article just published in the journal Sleep and Breathing suggests there is a causal link between COVID-19 and …
Read More
Urgent message: The United States Supreme Court ruled recently that LGBTQ discrimination is prohibited under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Urgent care centers may cultivate a tolerant and diverse work environment while protecting themselves against claims of discrimination by adopting and consistently following policies related to hiring, evaluation, promotion, benefits, etc. for all employees. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The Journal …
Read More
The process of recruiting, interviewing, and hiring the best talent for your urgent care center can be so overwhelming that by the time your new hire’s first day comes, it’s easy to think the rest will take care of itself. It won’t. The steps you take to “onboard” new team members can make all the difference in the world when it comes to how they’ll perform, and even how long they’ll stay in your employ. …
Read More
Too many urgent care centers have suffered financial and personnel losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. From being overlooked as viable participants in widespread testing efforts to patients who were too afraid to leave their homes even for medical care, the industry has taken a major hit. Some businesses may even go under. Others, however, are finding a way to adapt by offering telemedicine services or channeling patients to different locations for different needs. Merion Health …
Read More