Practice

The wildfires raging through Maui are just the latest example of how environmental disasters place healthcare facilities in the position of having to provide care for the sick and injured in the community while also ensuring the needs of team members are met, not to mention guarding against threats to the facility itself. A recent report from NBC News told part of that story through the experience of Reza Danesh, MD, who runs an urgent …

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic plunged many urgent care providers into the depths of burnout, there are signs that optimism may be resurging among healthcare professionals. According to a report published by Morning Consult, 58% of healthcare workers surveyed reported being optimistic about healthcare’s future while 61% reported that they’ve “mostly” been successful in coping with work stressors over the preceding 6 months. While that’s good news, the survey clearly indicates there’s …

Ripple effects of the recent federal debt ceiling haggling could have significant effects on public health departments’ ability to test and treat patients for possible sexually transmitted infections, according to a report from CNN. All told, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to lose approximately $1.3 billion in funding, according to the report, with local health outreach programs, including those related to STIs, expected to take an especially heavy hit. Given the already …

It’s not news that patients are very likely to wait longer to see a provider in a hospital emergency room than in an urgent care center. That’s why UC continues to thrive. It may come as a surprise to learn exactly how long patients wait in some EDs, though. According to an article published by Becker’s Hospital Review, during a recent survey period the average ED wait time was nearly 8 hours (476 minutes) at …

Urgent care providers and operators are primarily (and appropriately) concerned with the quality of the care they provide. Having gravitated to urgent care, it’s likely they also care deeply about efficiency and cost. One factor that may draw (or dissuade) patients could be hovering under the radar, however. According to an article published on REjournals.com, location is right up there with service and quality when patients are choosing among healthcare facilities to visit. In fact, …

Every summer, it becomes evident that parents need reminders of seemingly basic information that can help their children stay safe and feel good throughout the summer. Whether it’s wearing bike helmets, getting checked for ticks, or avoiding sunburns, simple things can become big problems if they’re not top-of-mind. Communities served by University of Iowa Health Care recently got the lowdown on dealing with seasonal allergies from an online newsletter article written by an advanced nurse …

Mercer Health may have hit on the value of a practice that is pretty common in nonclinical businesses: summer interns. These are not “interns” in the usual medical setting sense, but college students looking for opportunities to learn about a work environment while still undergraduates. In Mercer’s case, they’re also kids who are planning to apply to medical school eventually and want to round out their resumes with practical experiences that indicate their commitment to …

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 …