Practice Management
WellSpan Health continues to broaden its reach into urgent care, this time striking a partnership with MedExpress—somewhat unusual in that it involves just a single clinic and reflects no change in ownership for either company. WellSpan has been slowly buying up healthcare properties in the area, having acquired Good Samaritan Health System in Lebanon, PA and brought a local orthopedic practice into its fold earlier this year. WellSpan Health is a large integrated healthcare system …
Read More
A new study concludes that the healthcare marketplace is dictating a major renovation of primary care—and urgent care is both one of the causes and a potential beneficiary of the dramatic changes in the landscape. The report from PwC Health Industries’ Health Research Institute says rising costs and increased demand for primary care practitioners are forcing stakeholders to rethink their business models to unlock value. Simon Samaha, MD of PwC says the solution lies in …
Read More
As reports of deaths due to seasonal flu start to trickle in—eg, Iowa and California just announced their first flu-related fatalities of the season—patients on the fence about getting vaccinated may be moved to head to the urgent care center for a shot. Not coincidentally, some clinics are already expanding their hours to meet what is expected to be increased demand. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention views the flu “season” as lasting from …
Read More
URGENT MESSAGE: Urgent care centers are subject to myriad oversight by individual states, accrediting bodies, Medicare/Medicaid, and private insurance companies. Still, the patchwork nature of state regulatory and legislative trends impacting urgent care in 2015 raises questions—and expectations—for what might be coming next year. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Practice Management Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, a member of the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association, and Vice President …
Read More
Tax day is still five months away, but urgent care operators might be able to reduce their burden by ordering necessary equipment and supplies before saying good-bye to 2015. Seeing as how we don’t know what changes Congress might make to the tax code next year and vendors often raise prices with the new year, this could be an especially opportune time to take a look around and decide where it makes sense to trade …
Read More
Proponents say “step therapy” will save the healthcare system big money while still allowing patients the medications they need. Opponents call it “fail first” and insist that the practice of having patients try cheaper versions of prescribed medications—with insurers paying for the more expensive variety only if the cheaper drug doesn’t do the job—is a bitter pill to swallow. Some clinicians claim the practice, which in effect has insurers overriding a prescriber’s choice of medications …
Read More
The “ayes” had it as Congress approved a three-year pilot program that waives preauthorization for Tricare beneficiaries who want to visit an urgent care center. Tricare provides civilian health benefits for military personnel, military retirees, and their dependents. Part of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, the program will take effect six months after President Obama signs the bill (S. 1356) into law. At the end of year 1 of the pilot, the …
Read More
Urgent care operators considering adding a concierge medicine component to their business may find rationale to do so—or not to do so—in a new position paper published in the November 10 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The paper declines to give either a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to direct patient contracting practices (DPCPs)—aka “concierge medicine”—but does offer perspective on the pros and cons relative to medical quality, cost, access, and other factors. On the …
Read More
Investing in the growth of the retail health segment continues to be a hit-or-miss proposition for major chains around the country. While Walmart is hoping it won’t strike out with its third iteration of a clinic offering, Safeway is pulling the plug on plans to offer “upscale” clinical services—the keystone of which would have been a vendor’s blood analyzer—in 800 stores. Safeway spent around $350 million to build the clinics, hoping the blood tests produced …
Read More
Findings of a new study seem to support the notion that “defensive medicine”—eg, ordering tests even when not specifically indicated clinically—may offer some degree of protection to urgent care centers and other medical facilities. The study, authored by a team from Harvard Medical School led by Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhD, found an inverse association between spending and probability of a malpractice claim. In other words, employing greater resources reduced the risk of a malpractice …
Read More