Practice Management
Key metrics—also known as key performance indicators (KPIs)—are driving your business, whether you know it or not. And if you do know it, you’ll be able to capitalize on them to ensure continued growth and prosperity in your urgent care operations. If you don’t…well, you’ll be left just hoping for the best. Whichever camp you fall into, you can gain new insights into measuring and capitalizing on KPIs in a webinar to be hosted by …
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A new report published online in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vital Signs reveals that the CDC and health departments across the country identified more than 220 instances of germs with “unusual” antibiotic-resistant genes last year. Anne Schuchat, MD, principal deputy director of the CDC, called it “reassuring” that the resistant bacteria were identified because that’s the first step toward finding new ways to kill them. The report also notes that one in four germ …
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One might expect to hear urgent care’s praises sung by insurers, public health experts, and certainly patients, but props from a website devoted to offering investment insights might be unexpected. And yet, if you go to TheStreet you’ll find an article boldly titled Why Going to Urgent Care Is Better than the ER. As you read the article, it becomes apparent why the site is on the urgent care bandwagon. Cost savings for healthcare consumers …
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You may have already assumed this based on repeat visits by “frequent flyers” in your practice, but a recent study published in PLOS One confirms that without prompts, the majority of patients forget at least part of what they’re told by physicians. One culprit revealed by the study: limited time for provider–patients engagements. Patients surveyed remembered only 49% of their doctor’s instructions on their own; 36% did better with prompts, and 15% either could not …
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Walmart may be looking to wade deeper into the healthcare pool—including, potentially, offering urgent care services—by working more closely with Humana, according to an article published in The New York Times. The report says unnamed sources don’t expect Walmart to take over Humana outright. More likely, the deal will manifest in a financial and operating partnership focused on prescription drug sales and/or insurance coverage. It could also be the basis for opening urgent care centers …
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It’s going to take a year for the whole batch to be in place, but your front desk staff will start seeing new Medicare cards this month. As we told you when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services first announced its plans, every Medicare member will be issued a unique ID number to replace their Social Security number on the cards to better protect all manner of personal information tied to the SSN. Patients’ …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may have spoken too soon when it declared the 2017–2018 influenza season to be on the wane. Now the agency says cases are mounting—though right now it’s influenza B, not the H3N2, A strain that is both more severe and less receptive to vaccines. In fact, with the week ending March 17 influenza B has usurped influenza A as the most dominant strain of the moment. It’s not …
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Just days ago, we told you that Ascension had plans to downscale its footprint, focusing less on its identity as a large hospital system in favor of more emphasis on broader community access and patient-driven care. Now the company is demonstrating that ethos by stepping back from its plans to merge with Providence St. Joseph Health, according to the Wall Street Journal. That deal would have made the combined company the largest hospital provider in …
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The Urgent Care Association is one of numerous organizations that have filed comments regarding a draft Food and Drug Administration Guidance on CLIA-waived tests. UCA, and others, charge that the spirit of Select Updates for Recommendations for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) Waiver Applications for Manufacturers of In Vitro Diagnostic Devices runs counter to the intent expressed by Congress in passing the amendment. For one thing, they maintain, the FDA must remove proposed discussion …
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Nearly a third of patients taking part in a survey from Vitals say they’ve walked out on a physician appointment because they had to wait so long—and 20% have been so put off by wait times that they’ve switched doctors altogether. No surprise, then, that the Wait Time Report also reveals that 84% of people believe the amount of time they have to wait to see a medical provider is either “somewhat important” or “very …
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