Q. We had a patient present with 12 plantar warts. The provider used liquid nitrogen to freeze all 12 of the warts. What code should I bill for this procedure? A. In this case, you would bill Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code 17110, “Destruction (e.g., laser surgery, electrosurgery, cryosurgery, chemosurgery, surgical curettement) of benign lesions other than skin tags or cutaneous vascular proliferative lesions; up to 14 lesions.” Use only code 17110 once because the …
Read MoreGuns and Urgent Care: How to Respond to Evolving Open-Carry and Concealed-Carry Laws
Urgent message: In the midst of the controversy in the United States surrounding the right to bear arms and concealed-carry laws, the medical field has also been wrestling with the issue. Some patients, facility personnel, and facility visitors will carry weapons. Thus, it is important that urgent care managers be prepared by identifying which issues regarding weapons they should focus on and what they and their personnel may be able to do when an encounter involves a weapon. Guns in …
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Using Key Performance Indicators to Measure, Track, and Improve Performance in Urgent Care
Urgent message: Key performance indicators provide the yardstick by which urgent care strategy and execution are tracked over time, highlighting areas requiring management intervention, facilitating comparison with peers, and enabling a culture of continual improvement. Introduction Key performance indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable business metrics used by organizations to gauge various aspects of their performance over time. Regular monitoring and evaluation of KPIs help provide insight into an organization’s financial health and spotlight organizational strengths and weaknesses. KPIs are also used to set strategic and …
Read MoreReasons for Patronage
In 2015, Merchant Medicine (Shoreview, Minnesota) released data from a detailed national study conducted in 2014 regarding U.S. patients’ preferences regarding retail clinics versus urgent care clinics versus primary-care physicians’ offices. The survey involved more than 2,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 54 years and was conducted by Sparks Research and Merchant Medicine on behalf of DXM Marketing Group. Survey data showed that the reasons patients chose a specific type of health-care setting …
Read MoreImpacted Cerumen
Q. When a patient comes in with ear pain due to impacted cerumen, the health-care provider would normally instruct the nurse to perform ear irrigation. If the irrigation successfully removed the impacted cerumen, the procedure would be considered part of any evaluation and management (E/M) service and we could not bill for the service separately. With new rules regarding cerumen removal this year, can we get reimbursed for the ear irrigation if it is not …
Read MoreCritical Due Diligence Issues for Buyers and Sellers of Urgent Care Centers
Urgent message: Because deal activity for urgent care centers has been on the rise, prospective buyers and sellers of urgent care centers should understand key issues in preparing a center for sale or acquisition, sharing information, and ensuring compliance with the doctrine of corporate practice of medicine and with other health-care regulations. Introduction No segment of the U.S. health-care services industry has seen more merger and acquisition activity over the past few years than the urgent care market (which includes occupational health). Dozens …
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Joint Ventures Between Health Systems and Urgent Care: Achieving the Best of Both Worlds
Urgent message: As hospitals and health systems develop and grow +their urgent care footprints, many leverage the expertise and experience of outside partners. Five common affiliation models fit differing strategic objectives and distinct market conditions. As the number of urgent care centers increases across the United States, so too do the variety of urgent care center models and the ways in which urgent care centers seek to meet the growing demand for urgent care. Gone are the …
Read MoreCorporate Practice of Medicine: Could Your Current Operating Structure Be at Risk?
Urgent message: State laws prohibiting the corporate practice of medicine are often skirted by business arrangements that segregate a professional entity from a management company, but these arrangements can still pose significant risks to providers unless specific steps are taken to ensure the segregation of clinical and management activities. Introduction The corporate practice of medicine doctrine dates back to the inception of physician licensure laws. The tenet is derived from the legal requirement that only a …
Read MorePercentage of Annual Patient Visits by Month
Data from the 2014 Urgent Care Chart Survey of 1,778,075 annual visits by patients to more than 800 different U.S. urgent care clinics, conducted by the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, reveal that the busiest months of 2014 for patient visits were, in descending order: January, with 9.7% of all visits May, with 9.6% of all visits March, with 9.5% of all visits April and December, each with 9.1% of all visits The survey’s methodology …
Read MoreFracture Care
Q. Will you please help me understand initial visit, subsequent visit, and sequelae related to fracture care? If the patient is treated elsewhere for a fracture and the provider just stabilizes the fracture and instructs the patient to then come to my office for reduction, is this a subsequent visit or an initial visit? A. International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision, ClinicalModification (ICD-10-CM) guidelines state that a seventh character, A, is used for the initial …
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