Practice Management
We’ve seen pediatric urgent care take root. Orthopedic-oriented urgent care centers continue to flourish. Now the Orthopaedic Institute for Children (OIC) expects a combination of the two will offer patients the best of both worlds, and is set to start construction in Los Angeles on a new pediatric orthopedic urgent care center that will more than double the size of the current ortho trauma wing. In addition to projecting the facility will help OIC keep …
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Efforts to stem runaway abuse of opioids—and the resultant increases in addiction and deaths—are firing on all cylinders from the White House to the state house. On a more local level, failing to get on board with current regulations can land you in hot water with the DEA. The Urgent Care Association has asked Ronald Chapman, II, an attorney well versed on the subject, to provide a brief primer on DEA compliance with topics that …
Read MoreAvailability of telemedicine offered by larger employers in the U.S. is close to reaching a saturation point, as 96% of large employers are expected to offer it in their array of health benefits in states where it’s allowed next year. In stark contrast is the fact that only 8% of workers at one out of five of those companies’ workers are taking advantage of it, according to the Large Employers’ 2018 Health Care Strategy and …
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We’ve all seen painful reminders (or experienced them ourselves) of just how helpless natural disasters can leave us. We’ve also been touched and inspired by the bravery and selflessness of first responders—firefighters, police, EMS, and search & rescue personnel—who come to the aid of people in need regardless of their own circumstances. West Virginia University Occupational Medicine is saying thank you by offering a free physical exam for a day at select locations to all …
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When EHR vendor eClinicalWorks agreed to a $155 million settlement over charges that it falsified claims for federal incentive payments, it probably thought the damage would be mainly financial. Months later, though, it’s paying a steeper price in more precious currency: customer opinions. A new report from KLAS Research reveals that 66% of eClinicalWorks customers say their opinion of the company is lower than it was when the settlement was announced in May (with 26% …
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Residents who call 911 for immediate medical care could find themselves getting a lift from a rideshare to a local urgent care center instead of riding in an ambulance, sirens wailing, to the emergency room thanks to a pilot program Las Vegas Fire launched in Las Vegas. With more than two thirds of its roughly 600,000 annual calls being for medical assistance, the fire department was looking for ways to cut costs but not the …
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U.S. emergency rooms saw more patients than ever in 2014, but that doesn’t necessarily mean urgent care isn’t getting its message out. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that over 141 million people ran to the ED that year (compared with 130 million the previous year), but some top reasons tended to be complaints for which it would not be appropriate to visit an urgent care center—chest pain chief among …
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Physicians, including urgent care providers, may be taking more than their share of the blame for the ongoing opioid crisis in the U.S., according to a report by The New York Times and ProPublica. While some public officials and media outlets have accused doctors of, essentially, enabling opioid addiction by prescribing narcotic pain medications too liberally, data show that prices set by insurers may be steering doctors and patients alike away from less-addictive alternatives. Opioid …
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Research has proven that workers who feel free to give constructive feedback about their jobs and their employers stay longer. The challenge, according to a new article published in the Harvard Business Review and reviewed online by Advisory Board, is getting them to feel comfortable enough to provide that feedback. Many workers feel any comments perceived as negative will be used against them, while others assume management doesn’t really want to hear it so any …
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Urgent care has made its mark by delivering good care to people on a walk-in basis. Those patients with sore throats, lacerations, and other complaints could have chosen to be treated in a primary care office, but realized their symptoms were such that waiting a few days was a miserable (or possibly dangerous) proposition. Some patients with mental health complaints find themselves in the same position—or worse, considering they might not already be aligned with …
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