Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Overcoming the National Contract Barriers

Persistence

John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I just returned from Boston, where the American College of Emergency Physicians held its national conference. While there, along with learning (and relearning) some emergency medicine, I had the change to walk along the Freedom Trail and enhance my understanding of our battle for independence. What continually amazes me is how fortunate we were to actually succeed. Many times the only thing which turned the tide and saved the …

Developing Data: November, 2009

In early 2008, UCA revamped its annual survey in conjunction with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University with the goal of assuring that the UCA Benchmarking Committee’s efforts produced a scientifically valid report. Here, we present some of the data from this landmark survey, to which 436 urgent care centers responded. In this issue: Which payors foot the biggest portion of the bill among responding urgent care centers? * Includes employer contracts and …

S9083 & Secondary Insurance, Laceration Repair, and More

Q. We bill S9083 to several carriers. Occasionally, a patient will have secondary insurance. If the primary insurance is contracted to pay S9083 code but transfers the balance to the deductible, how do we bill the secondary carrier if they do not accept the code? Question submitted by Paula Seify, Back Office MD A. Many secondary payors do not accept S9083, but these payors still will often cover the actual services that were rendered under …

Duty to Report

A few years ago, in a semi-rural town in Arizona, a woman brought her 4-year-old son to a physician assistant named James, who staffed a walk-in clinic. James knew the boy and his family very well. He was essentially their PCP and had treated the little boy in the past. In fact, he watched his grow from a toddler to a rambunctious little bundle of energy. On this particularly visit, the little boy had a …

Simplify Communication to Get Your Message Across

I routinely receive more than 75 e-mails every day, have about 100 cable television stations to choose from, can look up virtually any topic on the Internet, receive scores of mail pieces each week, and have an untold number of voice messages daily. It is not surprising that the average person is receptive to but a fraction of information before them. Thus, there is a dilemma: How do I get my message across in such …

Utilizing Social Media to Drive Visits to Your Website and Urgent Care Center

In Creating a Web Presence to Raise Awareness of Urgent Care (JUCM, July/August 2009), we described how a well-designed website, optimized for retrieval by major search engines, enables highly targeted and localized promotion of an urgent care center. But establishing a web presence is just the beginning; driving “clicks” to the website and “feet” to the center is enhanced by creating “buzz” in online communities. Historically, word-of-mouth – spread in-person or by telephone – has …

Coding for I&D, DTaP, and Procedures Included in the E/M Code

Q. An urgent care that I do billing for has presented a question I would like your input on. A sales rep has stated that urgent care centers are now administering DTaP in urgent care, and, if so, what is the difference between the reimbursement of the Td (90714) and the DTaP (90715)? Lynn Gray, Eastern Hills Medical Billing, Cincinnati, OH A. Patients may use urgent care centers when they have difficulty getting timely appointment …

Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

Heard the adage, “You’ve got to spend money to make money?” Of course you have, and chances are you subscribe to that notion. Well, not so fast. You should spend money on marketing your occupational medicine services, but you can spend it judiciously. Only so much new business can be generated from direct sales; new business must be supplemented with business that is generated through marketing activities that do not rely on face-to-face communication. If …