Practice Management
As happens often with advances in the way medicine is practiced—and billed for—telemedicine has now reached a level of acceptance sufficient for widespread fraud to become an issue. The U.S. Department of Justice has levied charges of fraud totaling more than $6 billion against 345 people in 51 federal districts, with $4.5 billion of that sum connected to telemedicine billing. It’s the DOJ’s biggest fraud roundup ever. Those charged in the telemedicine sweep 86 defendants, …
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Zoom+Care has carved out an identity for itself as a tech-savvy provider of urgent care services on a regional level in the Pacific Northwest. According to a report posted on Geekwire.com, however, the company says it’s going to devote more energy into offering virtual medicine services—to the extent that they think they reach nearly 8 million more patients in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. There are also plans to open additional brick-and-mortar facilities in both …
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Opinions on exactly when it will happen vary considerably, but all informed parties agree that at least one safe, effective vaccine against COVID-19 will be available in the coming months. The question is…what then? The College of Urgent Care Medicine is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make sure urgent care operators have a chance to be up to date on plans to facilitate widespread vaccination, as will be detailed in …
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Since the COVID-19 pandemic really took hold in the U.S., there’s been a presumption that patients who were infected with and then recovered from the virus had protection against reinfection. We now know that’s not correct, however; patients can get COVID-19 more than once. So far, evidence indicates reinfection is rare—but there have been confirmed cases, the first one in the U.S. being a symptomatic 25-year-old, otherwise healthy, man who first tested positive on April …
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U.S. media reports in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic drove many worried citizens to seek care (or even just testing) wherever they could, without regard to whether it was the best setting for their situation. Months later, as billing is catching up, it’s time to pay the piper—and some of the bills are far higher than patients may have expected. As we’ve seen historically, a good number are associated with freestanding emergency rooms. …
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Since March, there have been many conflicting reports, as well as actual studies, on how COVID-19 is transmitted, who is at greatest risk, and how the virus is transmitted. The length of time a patient is considered infectious has been the subject of ever-changing intel, as well. At one point, 6 days was thought to be the window; then it was 10, and then 14 days. Now the Journal of Infection has published a paper …
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Many segments of our society have been forced to reduce services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After some initial, severe setbacks at the outset, however, urgent care has had the fortitude to consider where there could be opportunities to adapt for the mutual benefit of patients and the industry. Some locations became testing centers. Others broadened their virtual health offerings. Looking at the fast-approaching flu season and the ongoing pandemic, Cox South Hospital in Springfield, …
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For months, the Urgent Care Association has been asking its constituency to take part in surveys designed to take the industry’s temperature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses to the most recent queries show that UCA member organizations are still seeing patient volumes grow—albeit slowly this month (1%)—as they recover from setbacks early in the pandemic. Perhaps more importantly, the majority are looking ahead and planning to participate in immunization programs once a …
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The headlines, as well as the public’s and healthcare professionals’ attention, have been fixated on the COVID-19 pandemic for more than 6 months now. As urgent care provides know, however, that doesn’t stop people from needing care for “typical” complaints. It also doesn’t keep people from the dangers of medications in the home, whether that manifests as temptation to misuse opioids or taking outdated drugs that could either harm them or just not do what …
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One man’s trash is another man’s treasure trove of personal medical information—and the failure of one walk-in clinic in North Carolina to realize that has the operation being investigated by state health officials. Discarded medical records were found in a dumpster outside the recently closed facility in Wilmington, along with hazardous materials such as hypodermic needles. Police declined to file charges, but the dumpster was hauled away and the matter is now in the hands …
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