Practice Management
Eleven children have died from flu or flu-related illness this year, and roughly 20,000 are hospitalized every year in the U.S. thanks to influenza, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And yet the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, 2016 reveals that even 14% of parents who had their children immunized against flu this year believe it is “less important” than other childhood vaccines; perhaps less surprisingly, 59% of …
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With travel-related cases of Zika virus infection now confirmed in 20 states and the District of Columbia, it’s likely urgent care centers will see more patients with concerns, founded or unfounded, that they or their children have been infected. Guidance updated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week says routine care is adequate for most babies with suspected Zika virus infection unless there are signs of microcephaly. If there is evidence of …
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A new article published in the journal Pediatric Emergency Care adds valuable data that should further distinguish urgent care centers from retail health outlets commonly seen in community drugstores. Lead author Robert Wilkinson, DO and colleagues set out to quantify how prepared urgent care centers are for emergencies involving younger patients per guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. They found it is typical for urgent care centers to have what it deems “essential …
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As some insurers explore the wisdom of encouraging web chats and email for physician–patient communication, a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine supports the idea that text messages may bolster patient compliance with a physician’s directions. This particular metaanalysis considered 16 studies involving nearly 3,000 patients and showed an 18% increase in patient follow-through with appropriate medication use (from 50% to 68%). Increased adherence with medication regimens not only leads to better outcomes, but …
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Digging into the communal nacho platter at a Super Bowl party could give celebrants a bad case of eater’s remorse—in the form of influenza, especially among the hometown fans of the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. It’s no joke: A new study published in the American Journal of Health Economics reports that the death rate attributed to the flu was significantly higher in regions that Super Bowl teams came from between 1974 and 2009. Researchers …
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The Zika virus has not had a significant impact on the health of the US population; however, worried patients may still be turning to urgent care providers if they have suspicious symptoms after traveling in affected areas in Latin America and the Caribbean. Still others may have questions about what precautions to take if they have a trip planned. Operators would be wise to be armed with reassuring answers, and to know what to do …
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The best indicator of whether a physician is likely to have a malpractice claim made against him—yes, they are disproportionately male—appears to be whether a previous claim has ever been made. In fact, researchers at Stanford report that 1% of doctors are linked to nearly 33% of all paid General surgeons are among the doctors most likely to be the subjects of paid malpractice claims. Further, that group appears to share some distinct characteristics. In …
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Visits to the emergency room for sports injuries in children between the ages of 5 and 18 years rose every year from 2001 to 2013, with three quarters of those injuries attributed to football, soccer, baseball, and basketball, according to new data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. All told, there were nearly half a million emergent injuries in 100 hospital emergency departments during the study period—translating to an …
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Old habits and the pleadings of sick patients continue to move physicians to prescribe antibiotics for patients who don’t actually need them, according to a new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Physicians. Both are urging physicians to employ antibiotics sparingly during cold and flu season. Antibiotics are prescribed at more than 100 million adult ambulatory care visits every year—including visits to urgent care—but only about half …
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Urgent care centers that align themselves with schools and youth athletic programs should take note of a study showing that a blood test was able to confirm concussions in children with 94% accuracy—and to provide critical information on the severity of the concussion. While the reliability of the test was “competitive with CT scan,” it offered key advantages that may appeal to urgent care operators: namely, lower cost and none of the risks inherent to …
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