Practice Management
Urgent message: Urgent care centers play a vital role as a gateway into the health system for many children with acute care needs. Some of these needs require identification by the urgent care team, who may then need to stabilize the patient and initiate transfer to optimize clinical outcomes. Nikhil B. Shah, MD INTRODUCTION Pediatric office emergencies can be challenging for urgent care staff to manage. These high-stakes events do not occur frequently enough to …
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There are some holidays during which revelry is more likely to lead to a trip to the urgent care center or emergency room than others. You probably don’t need to prep your team for a flood of patients on Arbor Day, but Independence Day is another matter. Backyard barbecues where the beer is flowing and inattentive chefs are manning the grill, amateur firework displays, and too many hours baking in the sun can leave many …
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While it may sound like progress that the rate of new HIV infections fell by 12% between 2017 and 2021, as reported by the Journal of the American Medical Association that actually puts the United States behind its self-prescribed pace to achieve a 90% reduction by 2030. Testing for HIV, advances in treatment, and expanded use of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) have all been cited as contributors to the downward trend. Logically, that would seem to …
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Twitter, Instagram, Facebook…all social media platforms, actually, tend to bring out their users’ most volatile tendencies. And the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to magnify the problem, according to the results of a survey published by JAMA Network Open. Pre-pandemic, one survey found that 23.3% of physicians reported being “attacked” on social media, most often due to views they expressed concerning firearms, vaccinations, and abortion access. Now, however, 88% of the 359 physicians who met the inclusion …
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A Florida franchise brands company that up to now has made its mark by buying reliable food franchises like Dunkin’, Baskin-Robbins, and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen just stepped way outside the box by taking on six existing American Family Care clinics in the Tampa area. According to an article published by the Business Observer, Purple Square Management also plans to open 18 more locations in the region over the next 5 years. Purple Square’s other holdings …
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Texans know it’s going to be hot once June rolls around. What they don’t expect is for longstanding records for high temperatures to be broken multiple days running across the state. They’re not alone, though; according to the National Weather Service, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are all experiencing higher-than-normal temperatures for this time of year. With any extreme weather conditions, of course, comes an increase in related health crises—in this …
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As JUCM and JUCM News readers know, urgent care has become the darling of venture capitalists’ collective eye in recent years (see Why Private Equity and Other ‘Smart Money’ Is Bullish on Brick-and-Mortar Urgent Care in the JUCM archive). It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that more niche segments of the industry are also gaining attention from eager healthcare investors. PM Pediatric Care just announced that it secured $50 million from Jefferson River Capital as part …
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Urgent care operators as a whole put considerable attention on ensuring that their coding and claims procedures are pristine. It’s not just a matter of economic survival through ensuring the practice gets the reimbursements they deserve, but also an existential imperative; practices that fail to demonstrate due diligence in seeking that reimbursement face potentially catastrophic financial consequence. Even the appearance of noncompliance with proper procedures can raise red flags and sink a perfectly healthy operation. …
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X-ray services are a key factor that distinguishes urgent care centers from other walk-in healthcare facilities. So, especially in the midst of a shortage of x-ray technologists (RTs) in general, anything that threatens UC’s ability to offer imaging services could without exaggeration be viewed as a threat to the industry’s place in the healthcare system. The most current controversy is going on in Ohio, where the RT lobby is opposing a change in legislation that …
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Like x-ray technologists, physicians, and advanced-practice providers, mental health professionals are harder to find all the time—leaving the country mired in a mental health crisis. Patients have to wait weeks or longer to get help when they’re at their most vulnerable. As JUCM News readers know, urgent care has been mentioned frequently as a possible venue to help defuse the situation, though exactly how that could work on a widespread basis has yet to be …
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