Practice Management
It may come as no surprise to urgent care providers who offer occupational medicine services such as drug testing, but the overall rate of positive drug tests remains high across the board in the U.S. workforce according to new data from Quest Diagnostics. While fewer workers are testing positive for opiate use, results indicating use of cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana kept the positive test rate at 4.2%. That’s the same as it was in 2016—which …
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Local news outlets, insurers, and countless urgent care operators have tried to help patients understand when it makes the most sense to go to an urgent care center, as opposed to the emergency room or a retail clinic. Now Consumer Reports, a publication viewed as unimpeachable by many, is taking a crack at it. An article recently published there suggests the urgent care center may be the best choice when a patient needs stitches or …
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Just under a year ago, we told you eClinicalWorks had been fined $155 million for violating the False Claims Act. In addition to the fine, the company was supposed to help customers switch to other vendors at no cost to the customer, or provide customers who chose to stay with free updated versions of eClinicalWorks software. Unfortunately, while the fine has been paid and the whistleblower who brought the situation to light got his money, …
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The opiate crisis and legalization of marijuana in some states has upped the ante for occupational medicine providers charged with conducting drug screens for workers and prospective employees. Patients who may be concerned about their own ability to pass a urine test don’t make it easy sometimes. Some have been known to try to substitute “clean” samples for their own questionable bodily fluids when they know they’re going to be tested. One woman in Denver, …
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ZOOM+Care and Aetna are going to collaborate on an accountable care initiative in three Oregon counties, with the stated aim of cutting healthcare costs by up to 15% for employers in the Portland area. Offerings under the Aetna Whole Health ─ ZOOM+Care plan will be available starting July 1, though Aetna sales reps are quoting plans to local insurance producers as we speak. The partners plan to enable patients to use mobile phones to schedule …
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On-demand care is no longer limited to urgent care and the emergency room. Retail clinics and telemedicine give healthcare consumers more choices than ever before. That’s done nothing to impede the growth of urgent care, however. The latest annual Benchmarking Report from the Urgent Care Association (formerly the Urgent Care Association of America) and Merchant Medicine shows that urgent care operators continue to see consistent, year-over-year growth in spite of the increased competition. That goes …
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As noted in the latest benchmarking data on the urgent care industry, the very nature of on-demand care has changed since the birth of the Urgent Care Association of America. To demonstrate that this is not a time for “business as usual,” UCAOA announced at its recent annual convention in Las Vegas that it’s changing its name to the Urgent Care Association (UCA) and expanding its offerings to include new providers and technologies that are …
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Wahidullah Medical Corporation, which does business as Redwood Urgent Care and Laboratory, has filed an antitrust suit against St. Joseph Health, alleging that the system has an “entrenched monopoly” that it leverages to prohibit patients from using nonaffiliated lab services. Besides damaging Redwood’s business, the suit claims that St. Joseph’s tactics allow them to charge exorbitant prices that cost patients and insurers more than they’d be paying otherwise. Redwood alleges that St. Joseph Health prevents …
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Children wind up in the urgent care center when they’re not at their best—sickly, often cranky, and not necessarily in the most compliant frame of mind. And that’s “typical” kids. The challenges can increase exponentially for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). How staff and clinicians deal with the patient and family in the urgent care center or emergency room can make all the difference in the world, though, facilitating a better clinical experience and …
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The fact that reimbursement rates decline while the cost of running a practice goes up is hardly a news flash. Relatively minor details in reimbursement contracts that can ultimately add up to big bucks should not go unnoticed amid all the macrodata, however, according to a recent post on Doctor Discourse. Many changes that may seem to be random moves that your staff just has to get used to may also bring new opportunities to …
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