Practice Management
Urgent care has become more prevalent across the country for years, but new data from Massachusetts put a number on its growth there that is likely higher than many would have predicted. The number of urgent care centers grew 800% from 2010 through the end of 2017, according to a report from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. Retail clinics are also multiplying, though at a lower rate. By way of explanation, the Commission said it …
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Advances in technology have smoothed many of the rough spots in keeping patient records, billing, and communication. The flip side of that is that healthcare consumers become more demanding all the time. Healthcare providers need to increase their focus on patient engagement to keep up. Urgent care operators actually have a great advantage in this area, as the nature of our business is inherently more consumer-oriented than, say, a traditional primary care office. The retail …
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As the summer winds down and families head out for one more adventure before the kids go back to school, campsites and rustic lakes are packed—not only with outdoor types, but hungry ticks. A recent post on Healthway.com gave consumers a ton of information on signs they may have been bitten by a tick or, worse, that they may have contracted a tick-borne disease. Surely other media outlets will be doing the same, perhaps compelling …
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Medical errors, no matter a clinician’s expertise or a facility’s reputation, are going to happen. A precious few are lethal, but even those that do not cause serious harm have the capacity to cripple your business when the affected patients take to social media or warn their friends and family to steer clear of your practice. A new Medscape post suggests only 1% of physicians are “master diagnosticians” who seldom make mistakes when diagnosing. The …
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MedSpring Urgent Care was the victim of a data breach thanks to a phishing scam recently, possibly exposing the health information of some 13,000 patients. It started when a single employee fell prey to phishing—something that wasn’t discovered for a week and half, during which time the patient records were exposed. Once it discovered the breach, MedSpring blocked the unauthorized party’s access to the email account and brought in a cybersecurity vendor to figure out …
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As pain clinics come under closer scrutiny amid efforts to stem the tide of opiate addiction across the country, patients who need (and those who are addicted to) prescription pain medications are looking for new avenues of securing drugs. In Tennessee, where two-thirds of pain clinics have been shut down, there’s concern that tens of thousands of patients will be knocking on the doors of community health resources to get new prescriptions—or, worse, turning to …
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Often, managers and staff alike approach the performance appraisal process with a sense of dread. It shouldn’t be just busy work or a method of justifying why an employee deserves (or doesn’t deserve) a raise, however. Properly implemented, performance appraisals can help an urgent care operation build a top-flite workforce. If you have no earthly idea how that’s possible, you may want to register for the Urgent Care Association’s next webinar on Thursday, August 16, …
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Any thoughts that Humana’s zest for developing clinics in Walgreens drugstores would dampen its enthusiasm for deepening its relationship with Walmart should be put to rest, according to Humana CEO Bruce Broussard. In a call with analysts, Broussard said Humana’s Walgreens partnership will focus on “senior-focused primary care clinics” in Kansas City, MO area pharmacies. He was less specific about the insurer’s plans with Walmart, though it was clear they would focus on a different …
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Over the past few weeks, we’ve been following the progress of a tax bill that would have imposed an 8.75% tax on urgent care charges in Massachusetts. Thanks at least in part to strong lobbying against the bill by the Urgent Care Association and the North East Regional Urgent Care Association (NERUCA), among other concerned parties, the bill was stalled as the legislature’s 2018 General Session came to a close. If the bill had gone …
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A viral stomach bug has people vomiting and complaining of diarrhea and fever in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri—and it’s spreading fast, according to health officials there. Symptoms are self-limiting and last approximately 1–3 days, but have been causing serious dehydration in some patients. Recommended supportive care includes rest, increased fluid intake, and acetaminophen. Because the virus is spread through person-to-person contact, patients should be advised to avoid hugging, shaking hands, and any touching unless necessary. …
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