Practice Management
The United States is a transient society, with approximately 12% of Americans changing residences each year. The rates are much higher for those living in apartments (24%) vs owner-occupied homes (5%) and for young people under age 34 (34%) than those more established in their homes, families, and careers. Data also indicate a continued out-migration from dense urban areas to the suburbs and exurbs and from the “rust belt” to the “sunbelt.” When a family …
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If it seems like freestanding emergency rooms are popping up everywhere, try driving through a less-tony zip code. Researchers from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found growth of the ERs is concentrated in high-income areas with growing populations, more traditional ERs, a higher proportion of privately insured patients and a lower proportion of Medicaid beneficiaries. That leaves lower-income patients who need immediate care stuck waiting in the hospital emergency room, even if their complaints are …
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Recently we told you more than 300 people were charged with healthcare fraud involving some $900 million in false billings. Surely some were out to juke the system, but others were probably guilty of nothing more than poor compliance practices. Either way, the government is likely to continue cracking down on this multibillion dollar waste, making it a prudent time to shore up your own compliance program (as required under the Affordable Care Act [ACA, …
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The American College of Physicians (ACP) says cost sharing—deductibles, in particular—may be leading patients to delay even medically necessary services, leaving the door open for urgent care to make its case to cash-paying customers seeking a middle ground. In “Addressing the Increasing Burden of Health Insurance Cost Sharing,” ACP makes five recommendations for making cost sharing more “equitable” in the private market, mainly by reducing overall health care spending, designing insurance plans that allow access …
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The aging population—clearly not a controllable factor—is high on the list of factors that will continue to drive up healthcare spending over the next decade, according to the just-released 2016 National Health Expenditures Report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). National healthcare spending is projected to grow at a 5.8% annual rate, starting last year through 2025. If accurate, that means healthcare spending will rise from 17.5% in 2014 to 20.1% as …
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The Urgent Care Association (UCA) has filed comments with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), supporting annual screening of transportation workers diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). UCA’s position is in agreement with the FMCSA’s and the Medical Review Board’s contention that a driver with OSA should be recertified annually, regardless of whether he or she is undergoing treatment for the condition. Drivers who do say they’re being treated would have to demonstrate compliance …
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Yet another study indicates that “millennials”—individuals between 18 and 36 years of age—have a tough time affording basic healthcare costs (including insurance, in many cases). One out of five says they can’t afford routine health costs, while an additional 26% say they can afford routine healthcare costs, but with difficulty. The Harris Poll found that 70% consider cost to be a “very important” factor when looking for healthcare, and that 16% do not intend to …
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William Rodney, MD couldn’t jump fast enough when he found out the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) would be raising Medicaid primary care payments to Medicare levels. His urgent care practice (featured here previously; see One Year In, Latino-focused Clinic Doubles in Size) took in enough additional fees to create an outreach clinic for bilingual uninsured patients and to provide x-rays, ultrasound, and other services for underserved communities in Tennessee. Now he’s worried about …
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If patients walk out the door because the wait in your clinic is too long, that doesn’t have to signal lost business. You can still capture the revenue that would have been generated on the spot and maintain good customer service by encouraging them to visit another of your company’s locations. Take Intermountain Healthcare (IHC), which operates 31 InstaCare/KidsCare centers across Utah. Within the Salt Lake Valley, these urgent care locations are typically no more …
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Sudden fever, shortness of breath, chills…just the kind of “funk” that leads countless patients to the urgent care center. Well-informed providers are learning to look a little closer at such patients, though, with 21 people having died this year already from a usually obscure bacterial infection. Elizabethkingia anophelis is marked by symptoms often synonymous with the common cold, though its outcomes can be far more serious. Scores of cases have been reported in Illinois, Michigan, …
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