Practice Management
There’s been a lot of promising news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic recently; cases in most areas of the U.S. are trending downward while testing and vaccination programs are (slowly) helping to curb public anxiety about the virus. This is no time for hubris or a false sense of security, however, as an article just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals newly identified characteristics of children who become ill with multisystem inflammatory …
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Urgent care has had it tough during the pandemic, but the travel industry has faced unprecedented challenges as Americans hunkered down to avoid exposure to the COVID-19 virus. To this day, individuals in certain professions (teachers, for example) are barred from returning to work until they’ve quarantined after visiting certain states. Others, however, are facing slightly loosened restrictions, such as being able to travel as long as they can provide a negative test result. American …
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Urgent message: Adhesive repair for skin lacerations in pediatric patients is a viable (sometimes preferable) option—under the right circumstances. Careful consideration is warranted when the wound is to the chin. Joshua Sherman, MD and David Mathison, MD, MBA INTRODUCTION The use of adhesive repair in lieu of sutures for the management of minor lacerations has become increasingly commonplace.1 When used correctly, cosmetic outcomes are similar and may be superior to suture repair in certain situations. …
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In spite of a decades-long history of providing excellent, economical walk-in care across the country, the urgent care industry has been largely overlooked as a reliable ally in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. First, urgent care centers were left out of the supply chain for testing supplies in the early months of the pandemic. Now it can seem like SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are being distributed to every possible recipient other than urgent care (and badly, at that, …
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As of this writing, there remains roughly $150 billion available through the Payroll Protection Program. With the March 31 application deadline for first- and second-time prospective borrowers now in sight, however, the window for obtaining support that might help you keep your business afloat is closing. Some of the community banks charged with facilitating loans are targeting niche customers within certain markets—which could work to your advantage—such as businesses with fewer than 20 employees. Obviously, …
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There seems to be confusion among the public as to how COVID-19 affects infected individuals. While headlines noting that the U.S. recently passed the half-million mark in related deaths are hard to ignore, too many people are under the impression that the virus leads to one of two wildly diverse outcomes: it’s either deadly or “no big deal.” That couldn’t be further from the truth, however, as new data published in JAMA Network Open indicate …
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Federal health agencies insisted in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic that a 14-day quarantine was prudent for anyone who had contact with an individual who tested positive for the virus. Local health agencies and school systems followed suit. Since then, the general belief has been that a shorter period is adequate, easing the pressure associated with disengaging from even distanced activities or hybrid learning. An article just published by JAMA Network supports the …
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When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted a National Forum on COVID-19 Vaccination this week (coinciding with news that the U.S. had passed the 500,000 mortality mark), speakers identified increasing the supply of vaccines; ensuring there are more vaccinators to administer the vaccine; and creating more places for people to get vaccinated as key steps toward widespread protection against the virus. While expressing the idea that retail pharmacies and federally qualified health centers …
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Given that many patients with COVID-19 are asymptomatic, the value of basic screenings has come under debate. However, your personal views on whether they’re necessary are irrelevant if your state or local health department has enacted policies requiring them. An urgent care operator learned this the hard way when the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a center for not keeping a daily record of health screenings for people who visited—after being tipped off …
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It’s expected that patients are not at their best when they enter an urgent care center. Clearly they’re not feeling well in one way or another. That’s probably compounded by the fact that they couldn’t get in to see their “regular” doctor—and the overall stresses of having to be around other sick people in the midst of a deadly pandemic. Tempers may be short. You and your team can’t afford to respond in a like …
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