Practice Management
Most children who show up in the pediatric emergency department (PED) have a “regular” pediatrician or primary care physician—but not necessarily access to those physicians at times their parents think it’s absolutely necessary for their child to see a doctor, say the authors of a new article published in Pediatric Emergency Care. This leads to a two-fold problem: First, overcrowding in PEDs and, ultimately, diminished quality of care, according to their data. Second, as is …
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It’s well established that obstructive sleep apnea and dyslipidemia are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Now, new research shows evidence of a connection between the two. A cross-sectional analysis of 8,592 patients in the European Sleep Apnea Database turned up a dose response relationship between total cholesterol and oxygen desaturation index (ODI). Breaking down the total cholesterol finding further, triglycerides and LDL concentrations were predicted better by apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) than by ODI. HDL was …
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A man who reported to a Kansas City-area urgent care center with an open wound on the bottom of his foot—and who ended up losing his leg when his cellulitis worsened and he ultimately developed gangrene and sepsis—is suing the physician who first saw him, alleging that she failed to prescribe the right antibiotic, never cultured his wound, and declined to order any lab work whatsoever. The suit claims the doctor prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics that …
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The increase in urgent care visits across the U.S. shows no signs of slowing down—and that seems directly correlated to a decline in emergency room visits, according to an article just published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Informed by data from Aetna, the article notes that urgent care visits by commercially insured Americans grew 119% between 2008 and 2015, at the same time ED visits for low-severity conditions shrunk by 36%. Lead author Sabrina Poon, MD …
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Roughly 800,000 children are brought to emergency rooms after sustaining a blow to the head every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clearly, many others appear in urgent care centers—and that segment is likely to grow as parents continue to become more aware that urgent care is often the best choice for many complaints. Now the CDC has released new guidelines on evaluation and treatment of children who’ve sustained a blow …
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Labor Day weekend can signal a chaotic time of year as families scramble to squeeze in one more summertime adventure—sometimes overlooking the fact that their children have to get a check-up for fall sports or to make sure their immunization history is up to date. Promoting your capability to take care of that on shorter notice than a typical pediatric or primary care office could both help them out and land your operation more repeat …
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A woman in the United Kingdom has been diagnosed with a “flesh-eating” sexually transmitted disease that is relatively rare in the UK, and even more-so in the United States—but common in many tropical areas. Donovanosis causes genital and anal ulcers and can destroy tissue. Often, patients first notice small, painless sores that expand slowly before becoming raised, red bumps that bleed easily. As it spreads, it can destroy genital tissue and cause the surrounding area …
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The Food and Drug Administration has tapped the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to help it develop guidelines for treating acute, short-term pain related to specific medical conditions and procedures. The FDA says its new standard will “build on” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated advisory, which does not distinguish among pain from fibromyalgia, arthritis, neuropathy, or any other medical condition. The FDA’s plan is to be more indication-specific. Another difference: …
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Detroit-area residents will have a lot more urgent care centers to choose from in the next 16 months, as Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center, Ascension Health Michigan, and Beaumont Health all have announced they’re going to build up their operations there. Beaumont has the most ambitious plans, as they work with WellStreet Urgent Care to finance and open 30 new centers by the end of next year. Analysts say the expansion plans are …
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Chances are you think long and hard before prescribing opioids, and consider how long a patient will really need that level of pain relief if you do decide they’re necessary, in these days of rampant addiction. An article published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine suggests that physicians should mull that over even more toward the end of their shift, as the likelihood of prescribing an opioid product is 60% higher in the last …
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