Practice Management
With months of the flu season still ahead and the rate of new cases continuing to rise across the country, now is the time to step up efforts to immunize as many patients as possible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that outpatient visits for flu-like symptoms are up 3.4% compared with this point in last year’s flu season. Further, more than 1,300 people were hospitalized between October and December (the month when …
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Regardless of the setting in which they practice, urgent care clinicians play a crucial role in emergency medicine, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians—so much so that AAFP officially renamed one of its subgroups the Member Interest Group Emergency Medicine/Urgent Care (MIG EM/UC). In a new review article published in the current issue of Annals of Family Medicine, Banks, et al note that a “persistent shortages of residency-trained emergency physicians” creates a need …
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Military veterans’ access to healthcare took a huge leap forward last year—and urgent care was a big factor, according to a new study by the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, Program Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU). Working in conjunction with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), the researchers concluded that MyVA Access, implemented in 2015, established sustainable solutions within VA facilities to …
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Oklahoma is the latest state to report an outbreak of mumps, joining Washington, New York, Arkansas, and Missouri in what’s become the heaviest season for confirmed cases in years. Washington, New York, and Arkansas continue to report new cases in multiple counties, while Missouri’s case load seems to have leveled off, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not surprisingly, most cases in every state are clustered around school populations, though …
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Increasingly, paramedics are being employed (literally) to fill gaps in urgent care staffs around the country. The level of real-world experience and knowledge capable paramedics bring to the table make them well suited for a variety of tasks, from training medical assistants (MAs) to providing clinical care. Consider the following: Paramedics have more advanced skills than an MA, but not as much as a registered nurse (hence, they do not command as high a price …
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The Food and Drug Administration says battery-powered medical carts are to blame for a series of fires in facilities across the country, leading the agency to publish a warning letter recommending that all medical offices, including urgent care centers, take preventive measures. While the size of some carts makes their use prohibitive in many urgent care locations, larger centers, such as those that might be affiliated with a healthcare system, that use such systems are …
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South Florida-based MD Now plans to nearly double the growth pace it set in 2016 by opening seven new locations this year. The company has set its course based on both population access and expansion of services. The 25 locations it already has are within 5 miles of 75% of residents in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. Its new centers will be located and built with an eye toward offering more occupational health and …
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An expected holiday rush moved Baptist Health Madisonville (Alabama) to implore area residents to try urgent care for medical needs that might not warrant a trip to its emergency room. Kristy Quinn, the hospital’s marketing and public relations director, says high traffic times like the early-winter holidays make it difficult for the hospital to treat low-acuity cases that could be handled safely in the urgent care setting. “If people can evaluate what they are coming …
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The growth of telemedicine in urgent care and other settings is helping feed greater access to nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Relaxed scope of practice laws in both red and blue states, as well as evolving digital health technology that exploits the popularity of smartphones and tablets, make it easier and less expensive for patients to connect online—a model that typically employs NPs and PAs under the supervision of an on-site physician. This is further …
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MultiCare has formally taken over 16 urgent care locations previously owned and operated the The Ensign Group. The deal includes 14 existing Immediate Clinic Seattle centers, all located in the in the Seattle area, plus two more that are under development. Coming on the heels of its sale of Integrity Urgent Care locations in Colorado earlier this year, the MultiCare transaction effectively has Ensign exiting the urgent care arena altogether. MultiCare, on the other hand, …
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