Practice Management
Cases of vaccine-preventable diseases continue to pile up across the country, with Oregon and Washington being the latest states to report outbreaks of measles. One of the affected children in Washington, whose immunization status was unknown, was diagnosed at an urgent care center in Vancouver in late December. Public health officials in both states are publicizing locations where patients with measles visited in order to encourage people they may have come in contact with to …
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Hackensack Meridian Health, the largest hospital chain in New Jersey, is merging with Carrier Clinic as the first step in staking a claim in an emerging urgent care “specialty.” Hackensack and Carrier, which specializes in treating patients with substance abuse and mental health issues, will open an urgent care facility specifically for patients with such concerns in Neptune, NJ. The aim will be to offer walk-in care for patients in crisis, largely in order to …
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The deleterious effects of sleep deprivation have been demonstrated in innumerable clinical studies. As such, its effects on clinicians charged with treating patients is beyond question. What is in question, however, is whether the effects of inadequate rest are matched (or even surpassed) by the effects of sleep aids on healthcare providers—including urgent care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Research published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine suggests it’s a question that needs answering—and …
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Frequent reports from members who get stuck with surprise bills after visiting a freestanding emergency room have moved the Texas AARP to issue a warning to its members: Make sure you understand the type of facility you’re visiting, and verify what the cost of your care is likely to be, before you receive care. The problem, the organization says, is that many people walk into a freestanding ED thinking it’s actually an urgent care center—with …
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Regular readers of JUCM News know that hospitals have been buying or starting their own urgent care centers in greater numbers in recent years. It’s self-evident that they see it as a good business to enter, but a new article in the Wall Street Journal confirms the economic advantages of keeping patients in-house, instead of referring them out to urgent care centers or specialty practices outside of the hospital’s organization—as in, millions of dollars in …
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It’s a nearly constant battle: Patients insist on a prescription for an antibiotic even though it’s not indicated, putting prescribers in the unenviable position of either complying with an unreasonable and possibly dangerous demand or doing the right thing and incurring the unsatisfied patient’s wrath (possibly including poor ratings and complaints online). A new post on PatientEngagementHIT suggests that focusing on better communication between provider and patient could go a long way toward resolving such …
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CNBC, The Washington Post, and LinkedIn have all reported on the growing phenomenon of workers who “ghost” their employers—essentially, leaving their job without providing notice and cutting off all contact with the company without explanation. While the poor ethics and etiquette of that practice are beyond question, there could be serious legal consequences if it happens in the urgent care setting. And it does happen—even among physicians and other clinical staff; some leave at the …
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North Carolina’s state treasurer would like to see his state become the second in the country to align healthcare reimbursements with Medicare rates. The proposal is already being slammed by hospital systems and the North Carolina Healthcare Association on the grounds that any savings realized by the health plan and its members will come at the expense of overall quality of care across the state. However, Dale Folwell claims the plan he’d like to implement …
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The pressure to demonstrate the value you provide to employers, compared with telemedicine, on-site clinics, and other venues for on-demand primary care, is increasing as employer health system networks continue to become more exclusive. An article posted recently by HealthLeaders suggests that employers and insurers believe tightening their provider selections will raise quality and cut costs. Regardless of whether that logic proves fruitful in the end, the result today is that provider networks are smaller. …
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Every October (or earlier), the call goes up that it’s time for patients to get their annual flu shot. Urgent care providers are inundated with messages from all corners of healthcare, pleading with them to vaccinate as many people as time and patient preference allows. Advances in artificial intelligence could put a stop to that at some point, however. No, it can’t program patients to follow your advice by getting immunized. Rather, as noted in …
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