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 as scientifically valid report. Over the coming months in Developing Data, JUCM will present some of the findings from this landmark survey, to which 436 urgent care centers responded. In this issue: Who owns all those urgent care centers, anyway? Note that the entrepreneurial …
Read MoreAn Update on New vs. Established Patients
David Stern, MD Q.I read your column about new vs. established patient coding in the January Issue of JUCM. Although the information provided was correct at one time, I believe that Medicare has updated its algorithm to come closer to the algorithm provided by AMA for new vs, established patients. A.You are correct. In a somewhat obscure and rarely referenced information release. (www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM4032.pdf) CMS did change its position on this issue. “Physicians should not that …
Read MoreAdjust Your Strategy for a Down Economy
There is a broad consensus that our country’s current recession will advance to become the harshest economic crisis we have faced since the Great Depression. On the surface, spiraling unemployment and broad-based financial pressures portend trouble for most urgent care clinics. Yet, crisis inevitably breeds opportunity if clinic owners avoid being caught like a deer in the headlights and proactively move forward. This month’s column addresses economic realities and what clinics can do now—not just …
Read MoreHow to Say ‘Farewell and Adieu’ to Owning Your Business
John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP How do you know when it’s time to cut bait? Remember the scene in Jaws when Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) is throwing fish guts into the ocean and comes face to face with the shark? He remarks, somewhat casually. “You’re going to need a bigger boat.” Despite the fact that everyone in the theater is yelling “run for your life,” the trio then decides to continue after the …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: January, 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. Over the coming months in Developing Data, JUCM will present some of the findings from this landmark survey, to which 436 urgent care centers responded. In this issue: Of those urgent care centers that responded to questions about how they …
Read MoreEMTALA and Transferring Patients to the Emergency Department
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I was an emergency medicine resident on the south side of Chicago in the mid-1980s and, truth be known, I sometimes played inappropriate practical jokes on residents at other area trauma centers. One of my favorites was calling over the “patch phone” with a report that a patient whose penis was “Lorena Bobbitted” by a pit bull was en route; the paramedics were bringing in both the patient and …
Read MoreWhat, When, Who, and How to Offer ‘Freebies’
Historically, marketing occupational health services has often meant producing various commodities with your clinic’s name on it: pens, hats, mini-flashlights, refrigerator magnets, note pads, even t-shirts. Cute, perhaps—but these trinkets cost money, took time to distribute, and quickly faded from the recipient’s mind, if not their possession. Should your clinic’s outreach strategy include “freebies?” If so, what should they be, how should they be distributed, and who should receive them?
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The Search for the Urgent Care Center
Urgent message: Efforts to define and accurately count urgent care centers in the U.S.—which may be crucial to the industry’s continued growth—are ongoing, and will require the commitment of trade organizations and individual urgent care owners alike. Robin M. Weinick, PhD, Steffanie J. Bristol, BS, Jessica E. Marder, and Catherine M. DesRoches, DrPH Our quest to provide accurate, scientifically rigorous benchmarking data for urgent care centers began with the decision to conduct a survey. Before …
Read MoreDetermining New vs. Established Patients for E/M Coding
Q.We are in the process of adding urgent care services to our occupational medicine clinic. How do we determine when to use a new or established E/M code for the patients who are seen for urgent care services? A.I continue to receive questions regarding the “when to code new or established patient E&M codes” conundrum, so let’s try to simplify the issue. The official CPT definition of new patient is: A patient who has not …
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Failing to Plan—or Planning To Fail? Designing a Clinic for Success
Urgent message: Making the best use of the space you have is not just a matter of comfort and esthetics; an efficient floor plan contributes to providing proper—and cost-effective—care and services. Patrice Pash, RN, BSN, COHC So you’ve signed the lease or purchased the property and you’re sitting there staring at this huge empty shell, dreaming of the potential finished space. What will it look like? How many exam rooms do you need?What additional offices …
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