Practice

There’s a strange dichotomy afoot in California emergency rooms: Patients are heading to the emergency room in greater numbers than in years past—but even more of them are leaving against medical advice out of frustration over waiting so long to see a provider, according to data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and published recently in California Healthline. Approximately 352,000 ED visits in 2017 ended with patients leaving after seeing a doctor …

Social media platforms can be more than a treasure trove of baby pictures, cat videos, and inflammatory political rhetoric. Some urgent care physicians have become adept at utilizing their features for the good of their patients, their practices, and even their careers. Tyeese L. Gaines, DO, MBA is one. The founder of NOWMed Urgent Care in Jersey City, NJ was quoted extensively in a recent post on the AMA’s website, detailing how Facebook, Twitter, and …

Some operators may dismiss online reviews as a random mishmash of disgruntled patients spewing sour grapes when a doctor visit didn’t go the way they wanted or, to the other extreme, meaningless praise heaped on a business by shills. Those operators do so at their own peril, however, as a new survey reveals that online reviews matter a great deal to patients who are about to make healthcare decisions. According to the report from PatientPop, …

Provider burnout has been the subject of much consternation—and resultant coverage in the medical media, including JUCM (see Provider Burnout Is Real; Show Compassion for Yourself, or Recognizing and Preventing Provider Burnout in Urgent Care in our archive.) Burnout may not be the most accurate or helpful way to describe symptoms like increased apathy toward work, a pervading sense of boredom and stagnation, irritability, and a shortened attention span, however. As detailed in a new …

Really knowing what patients thought of the care you provided can equate to a priceless opportunity to both see where your urgent care center can improve and understand how to tailor your marketing message. The problem, according to a new article published in BMJ Quality & Safety, is that too many patients are reluctant to give you an honest assessment. Out of 10,212 patient–participants, 47% admitted they experienced a problem during a recent hospital stay. …

Many media outlets (including this one) have sounded the alarm that there’s a burnout crisis going on among American healthcare providers. And it’s true—but it’s not necessarily the whole story, as revealed in a new study of 5,000 physicians by the American Academy of Family Physicians. A sizeable majority (71%) report being “happy” in their professional lives, with 59% saying they are satisfied with their lives in general. The work-related complaints they do have are …

Physician assistants and nurse practitioners—or, collectively, advanced practice providers (APPs)—already play an integral role in urgent care medicine, and are taking on more and more responsibility in many settings. Lately, some states have started taking a closer look at how much physician oversight they really need, opting to give them more independence. As with most change in any walk of life, however, there’s another side to the coin. A new post on the HealthLeaders website …

It’s a plain demographic fact that the segment of the U.S. population over the age of 65 is growing—and that it will continue to do so for years to come. It’s also been proven that seniors account for more healthcare spending than younger patients. In fact, they make up around 15% of the population right now, but contribute over 21% to healthcare costs. What’s more, seniors visit the emergency room more frequently and stay there …

One of the key attributes of urgent care is that the cost is lower than patients would face in the emergency room—which is a benefit not only for them, but for their insurers. Even so, the cost may be too high for some lower income patients, especially those who don’t have insurance or can come up with the copay. You may have a better option than either turning them away or eating the cost, however. …

There are roughly 22,000 more nurse practitioners in the United States than there were a year ago—and new data from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners indicate the number will continue to rise for the foreseeable future, further suggesting there could be massive growth opportunities in urgent care. Right now, 24% of current NPs say they belong to a private practice; 14% work in hospital outpatient clinics, with another 12% in inpatient hospital units; 8% …