Practice Management
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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Concerns over how they might be treated are so severe for some transgender patients that they decline to get medical care on a regular basis. While the consequences of that for the patient are self-evident, there is also pressure on the urgent care provider to 1) get to the root of whatever the patient’s complaint is, understanding that it may have gone unaddressed longer than might be expected and 2) to interact with the patient …
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Urgent care—and the medical community in general—has come a long way in concussion recognition and management. One shortfall has been that clinicians assessing patients who experienced a blow to the head had nothing to compare their findings to, in terms of the patient’s “normal” capabilities. The most recent development in the field has been the idea of getting a baseline on a patient’s cognitive health conditions before an injury occurs. FastMed just launched its own …
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Multiple counties in Alabama are reporting a jump in urgent care visits related to pertussis—enough that the Alabama Department of Health is warning parents of the signs (the most recognized being the tell-tale “whooping” cough). The numbers are expected to rise, too, given that Alabama’s public schools are already back in session and children are more likely to be sharing germs in the classroom. Ensure you have adequate testing supplies, especially if you have operations …
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Panicked parents may be likely to dash into an urgent care center in the hope that you’ll have EpiPens on hand. Many families tempt fate by not traveling with their own, while some say they can’t afford them to begin with, given that their expected shelf life is just 20 months. Cost is always a concern for healthcare operators trying to keep overhead down, as well, so it’s essential that you know the Food and …
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Storm watchers have had their eyes fixed on Hawaii for the past week or so, waiting to see what havoc Hurricane Lane might create. Besides the fact that the feared widespread destruction didn’t materialize, the real weather story is likely to unfold on the East Coast of the mainland over the next few weeks. The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through November, typically peaks in September. HealthIntelligence just posted an article examining the …
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After last year’s tough flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is already urging the public to get their flu shots early, recommending vaccination no later than the end of October. That means it’s not too early to start letting your patients know your urgent care center is the perfect place to get one. As always, the need is especially great for children, anyone with a compromised immune system, the elderly, and pregnant …
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Truckers are used to a lot of the hardships that come along with driving nearly nonstop every week. Having to choose between doing their jobs and taking care of their health should not be among them. So, VelocityCare/Carilion Clinic is building an urgent care center smack dab in the middle of a truck stop in Raphine, VA, complete with an on-site pharmacy. Seeing as Raphine is located in the scenic—but rural—Shenandoah Valley, the seemingly unusual …
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Some of the symptoms are relatively generic—fever, headache, fatigue—but that’s actually one of the risks for patients infected with Chagas disease, which can cause stroke and heart failure if it’s not caught and treated in time. If you have patients with those common complaints, look further to see if they have a rash or swelling without an explanation; if so, consider sending out a blood smear for analysis or referring them for testing immediately. Chagas …
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