Practice Management
With the decade about to come to a close, Crain’s Health Pulse considered what some of the biggest healthcare stories of the 2010s were—concluding that the ongoing “rise of urgent care” is significant among them. A Look Back at the 2010s: The Rise of Urgent Care notes that what made the period of 2010–2019 so good for urgent care as a business model is likely to spur further growth in 2020 and beyond. Where evolving …
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Urgent care figures prominently in one Florida county’s efforts to curb excessive emergency room spending while also educating patients on how to choose the best setting for what ails them. A review of their 2018–2019 fiscal year told Volusia County, Florida officials that residents had an expensive habit: calling 911 when they didn’t have a way to get to a doctor’s office or going to the emergency room for relatively minor illness and injuries. The …
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Children (and even some adults) put things in their mouths that don’t belong there—and sometimes they wind up being swallowed or inhaled. That risk may be especially high as holiday gifts are explored and batteries fall into small hands. The next free webinar offered by JUCM will feature Hansel Otero, MD, director of international pediatric radiology education and outreach at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia sharing real-life cases (and accompanying x-rays) of patients with foreign bodies …
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We told you recently that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its estimate of the number of American who die every year from an antibiotic-resistant infections (from the long-held total of 23,000 to around 35,000 deaths). Just last week, however, the CDC revealed that the actual number is thought to be 44,000 deaths annually, out of 3 million people who become ill with resistant infections. At the same time, though, prevention efforts like …
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Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s Eve and Day move many people to embrace religious and cultural festivities with family and friends. For those who are isolated, experiencing a downturn in their life experience, or struggling with mental or emotional illness, however, the winter holidays usher in additional risk for suicide. While the overall trend for suicides in the U.S. is concerning—suicide rates increased 25.4% between 1999 and 2016—January continues to be the month in which …
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What do you think it would cost to get 6 minutes of exposure on television, demonstrating your clinical expertise by talking about a wide range of high-interest health topics? It’s actually a moot question, because a) you probably couldn’t afford it and b) if you’re the chief medical officer of Peachtree Immediate Care in Atlanta, you just got it for free. James Yost, MD sat down with one of the hosts of 11 Alive’s atl&co …
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What has been mostly anecdotal over the past several years has now been confirmed by researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Fewer patients than ever are going to traditional primary care practices, meaning their patronage is up for grabs. Between 2002 and 2015, there was a 2% drop in the number of patients who have an established primary care provider. While younger patients, people of color, …
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A little boy bangs his toe on the coffee table while chasing his cat around the house. He’s screaming bloody murder and his mom is convinced he’s broken a bone. It’s a scenario tailor-made for urgent care, so she drives immediately to your clinic—only to find the only parking spot is across the street, in the municipal lot. Be assured she’s not parking there; nor is she going to circle until something opens up. She’s …
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True urgent care innovators—including a long-time JUCM contributor and supporter—and humanitarians are being honored with Urgent Care Foundation Awards in 2020. Perhaps most familiar to JUCM readers will be David Stern, MD, who is set to receive the Foundation’s Outstanding Achievement Award for his long history of having a positive impact on the industry. Dr. Stern created an urgent care-specific electronic medical records and practice management software company, Practice Velocity, which recently merged with DocuTAP …
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Not long ago, LabCorp started offering consumers the opportunity to order and administer some 90 different lab tests for themselves. Now comes word that Amazon is looking for a way to get into the home diagnostics business; according to CNBC, the company recently tried, but failed, to acquire a diagnostic start-up called Confer Health. Given Amazon’s ability to reach patients at home 24 hours a day, it stands to reason that a successful entry into …
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