Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Optimizing EHR Functions May Help Prevent Physician Burnout

Long hours, an overabundance of bureaucratic tasks, and perceived lack of respect from coworkers and administrators are the perfect recipe for physician burnout, if Medscape’s 2018 Physician Burnout and Depression Report is to be believed. Another source cited—increasing reliance on electronic health records—may also be the gateway to reducing the risk for burnout, however, according to a new article published online by Advisory Board. The difference between an EHR’s potential to be a burden or …

New Data Reveal Insights in TBI Care—and How Urgent Care May Be Able to Help

Concerns over the lifetime consequences of head injuries have led to countless protocols and regulations for athletes and victims of accidents or falls. Advances are being made on the clinical front, too—some of which may light the way for urgent care to play a bigger role. First, a study just published in JAMA Network Open suggests that patients who presented to emergency rooms with what was ultimately found to be mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) …

Suit Claims CVS Revealed HIV Status of 6,000 Patients in Ohio

CVS Health is one of the defendants in a federal lawsuit claiming that it and other companies failed to protect the HIV status of 6,000 patients in Ohio—not through an online data breach, but thanks to a poorly constructed envelope. The suit filed by three unidentified plaintiffs maintains that when CVS mailed letters to patients in the state’s HIV drug assistance program last year, the recipients’ HIV status was visible in the envelope’s glassine window. …

Urgent Care Operators Can Help Reduce Elder Abuse—Here’s How

Urgent care providers have become more attuned to signs of potential child abuse, realizing that the parents responsible might be nervous taking a child they’ve injured to their “regular” pediatrician. Visiting an urgent care center where the family may not be known can provide a false sense of security that the true nature of a child’s injuries would go unrecognized. There’s tons of information telling providers what to do about those suspicions, as well. We …

Smart Technology Allows Tech Firms to Jump into Healthcare—for Better or Worse(?)

We look at the advent of smart technology as a window to closer contact with patients and more efficient, secure communication among providers and various healthcare stakeholders. It also opens a door for technology companies with no history in healthcare to suddenly become major disruptors. While it’s too soon to know whether that would be a good or bad thing for patients, there’s no question it makes some cogs in the supply chain nervous. If …

UCA Webinar: Improving Infection Control in Your Urgent Care Centers

With international travel and increasing levels of antibiotic resistance both on the upswing, helping patients who present with any variety of infections has never been more challenging for the urgent care clinician. The Urgent Care Association will host a webinar on the subject on Thursday, June 7, from 1 to 2 pm, Central. Speaker Lori Swanson, RN, MHSA, CHC, compliance and qualify officer for Physicians Immediate Care in Illinois and Indiana, will review best practices …

Humana Prefers You Don’t Know the Details of Its $45 Billion Tricare Contract

Humana’s military unit has filed suit against the federal Defense Health Agency in an effort to block the details of its $45 billion Tricare managed care contract from becoming public, as reported late yesterday by Law360. Humana Military is seeking a permanent injunction blocking the agency’s decision to disclose certain proprietary information provided by Humana as part of its bid for the Tricare contract, according to the complaint filed in Washington, DC federal court. Though …

Walgreens May Not Need to Buy a Health Plan to Stay Competitive

The woods have been thick with mergers joining formerly disparate segments of the healthcare industry, with major drugstore chains and insurers being a prime example. The biggest headlines of that lot followed news of CVS’s plans to by Aetna. Nonetheless, one of CVS’s key competitors is sitting out this growing trend, at least for now. Instead, Walgreens Boots Alliance has chosen to stick closer to its core business by building a close relationship with Prime …

Beware Overly Intrusive Online Patient Check-In Systems

On the surface, offering online check-in sounds like a can’t-miss proposition that combines the organization of an appointment-based practice with the convenience of a walk-in system. As with most innovations that purport to solve all your problems in a given area, however, this option is not risk-free for urgent care operators who want to drive up visits while offering a better experience for their patients. According to a new article published on LinkedIn by Alan …

Theft and Diversion of Opiates Are Ongoing Concerns for Urgent Care Operators

It isn’t enough for urgent care clinicians to be more judicious in prescribing opiates for patients in pain. A seamless approach to medication security also has to be in place in order to thwart crooked workers looking to make a quick buck on the backs of addicts in need of a fix. A case in southwest Florida is a painful reminder that anyone with access to addictive drugs could land your business in trouble and …

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