Practice Management
Urgent care has been riding high as the darling of venture capitalists for a few years now. To you, the reasons seem obvious: patients appreciate excellent care they can access more easily than in their primary care provider’s office at a fraction of the cost insurers would have to pay if their members went to the emergency room, for starters, and investors must see the value in that. That’s the insider’s view, but it could …
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While some purists may bristle at the notion, it’s a fact that an abundance of virtual and in-person options has allowed individuals the freedom to do more comparison-shopping for healthcare providers than ever before. As an article just published by the Harvard Business Review notes succinctly, when it comes to their medical care “patients in the United States aren’t loyal customers.” In fact, it goes on to reveal, they’re likely to access care from between …
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One subject that tends to get overlooked in the ongoing fight against acuity degradation in the urgent care setting is incidental findings that require further investigation, treatment, or counseling. Whether a patient presents with lower back pain but is then found to have elevated blood pressure, or bloodwork run for a company physical reveals high cholesterol, they need help sooner rather than later. For all they know, they could have been living with (and incurring …
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Anyone with a working knowledge of urgent care services knows it’s typical for an urgent care center to offer x-rays on site. And even if the general public has a vague awareness of that, they could probably stand some reminding—especially if you have the opportunity to also let them know that you’re investing in your business so you can take even better care of them. Graham County Urgent Care and Family Practice in North Carolina, …
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Comarketing different aspects of your urgent care operation may not only be possible, but downright advisable according to an article published recently by Physicians Practice. Most obviously, devising (or more to the point, paying an agency to devise) separate strategies for your urgent care and primary care services, for example, is obviously more costly. However, the article also points out that such an approach disregards the fact that patient needs can be complex and while …
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Just a couple of weeks ago, we relayed that an investigation showed Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois failed to audit at least 25% of provider directories to ensure they were current and that their website maintained current provider information. The upshot was that your urgent care center might not show up when BCBS members searched for covered practices to visit. Now the Journal of the American Medical Association has published a study revealing that …
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Google apparently thinks it’s time to ratchet up its efforts to get a piece of the U.S. healthcare marketplace, as it just entered into an agreement with virtual care vendor Pager. According to the announcement, Pager will serve as an integrated service provider and technology partner, and support Google Cloud’s Healthcare application programming interface (API), dialog flow, and data platform. In short, the partnership is intended to enhance Google Cloud’s healthcare application interface through Pager’s …
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It’s unlikely a patient would think to tell you this directly, but new research published by the journal Health Affairs shows that in the COVID-19 era physicians and nurses are more trusted for health information than federal, state, and local health agencies. While 37% of 4,208 participants in a telephone survey said they trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide solid information, 54% said they trust physicians “a great deal” while 48% …
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It’s more of an issue internationally right now, but 18 U.S. states have reported cases of the emerging omicron variant XBB.1.16. While XBB.1.5 is still the most prevalent variant here, the World Health Organization reports that XBB.1.16 has been reported in 22 countries and has become the dominant variant in some of those, already increasing hospitalizations and deaths. XBB variants 1.9.1, XBB, and XBB.1.5.1 are also on the rise domestically, raising concerns that severe cases …
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Physicians and executives with close ties to urgent care are prominent among Becker’s Hospital Review’s list of Black Healthcare Leaders to Know for 2023. As Becker’s reasons, diversity among providers and healthcare organization leadership “leads to more informed, personalized care and improved outcomes” while those chosen to be on the list have demonstrated an ability to foster “positive patient experiences, paving the way for the next generation of leaders, and promoting health equity.” Among them …
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