Practice Management
American Family Care is putting all its clinics in the proverbial urgent care basket; the company’s 160+ locations, currently flying the AFC Doctors Express banner, will be rebranded under the name AFC Urgent Care. A new logo will come along with the name, but the locations will retain the same doctors and other staff, offer the same hours, accept the same insurance plans, and maintain current copays. Each will also continue to operate under local …
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A new study by FAIR Health says too many busy millennials (defined by Pew Research as those who turned ages 15–34 in 2015) turn to WebMD or “Dr. Google” instead of checking in with a physician when they need medical care. While that’s bad news for providers in every setting—not to mention those patients—the good news for urgent care is that when they do commit to an in-person visit, they are more likely to choose …
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A community hospital in California says Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia is punishing it for being out-of-network by paying patients directly for emergency services received at the hospital, rather than reimbursing the hospital. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital is taking the matter to court, charging that the Georgia BCBS plan is trying to pressure the hospital, unfairly, to accept its contract rates. The suit further claims that by paying patients directly, the …
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FastMed Urgent Care has become the biggest urgent care provider in the country to offer patients telemedicine services. The company has partnered with TouchCare to start taking mobile video appointments in North Carolina, via smartphone or tablet. If all goes well there, FastMed plans to offer similar service in Arizona and Texas later this year. The company says it has a distinct advantage over virtual-only services because patients can start with a remote visit but …
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A new study by Neilsen Strategic Health Perspectives and the Council of Accountable Physician Practices affirms that outcomes are better when multiple providers who’ve treated the same patient share information. However, it also points out that communication between providers suffers when an urgent care center is outside of a health system. This represents a lost opportunity, as just 38% of physician offices provide access to an urgent cate center through the same medical group. Interestingly, …
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With an ongoing physician shortage expected to get worse in the coming years, the flexibility and cost advantages offered by urgent care could improve access to quality care for many while strengthening the industry’s place in the continuum of care. Rural areas are being hit especially hard, as are states with higher concentrations of minorities. Savvy urgent care operators will look to those areas when considering new locations. Some states are even willing to sweeten …
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is the latest big insurer to start encouraging telemedicine for plan members with relatively minor complaints. As of July 1, BCBS will be working with American Well to offer the service to employers with fully insured and PPO policies. Plans see the new technology as a way to reduce costs—mainly by keeping patients out of the emergency room, which aligns perfectly with the urgent care approach—and to meet consumer …
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Some urgent care and occupational medicine providers have questions regarding the new OSHA requirement for Safety Data Sheets (SDS), effective June 1, 2016. Essentially, to be compliant you must: Make sure all of your Material Data Safety Sheets (MSDS) are replaced with Safety Data Sheets (SDS) Assure that all hazards in your urgent care center are labeled with the new pictograms Re-up any training you’ve provided employees on OSHA compliance OSHA requires that employers keep …
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Part of the beauty of urgent care is that patients spend less time waiting to be seen. Even minimal time spent waiting can be made more pleasant—thus enhancing the patient experience—with access to magazines, newspapers, television, and refreshments to alleviate uncertainty, boredom, and aggravation. If you’ve added a television to the media offered to patients, consider carefully what they’ll be watching. Generally, urgent care centers display three types of programming: • Cable news (eg, CNN, …
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New data from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) indicate that while the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) has made sure more Americans have health insurance, it has done little to make care more affordable across the board. While nearly 90% of the country has coverage, NBER statistics show that more people than ever find basic healthcare unaffordable. A recent study of over 1 million patients from 2003 to 2007 illustrates just how …
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