“Let sales people sell” should be more than a cliché; it should be a way of life. Unfortunately, though, many occupational health sales professionals spend a disproportionate amount of time engaged in client maintenance and customer service at the expense of direct sales. This is not to say that customer service and patient service are unimportant, however; in truth, maintaining good relationships both with customers and patients is crucial to the success of every occupational …
Read MoreCompliant Management of Non-Compliant Staff
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Are you from the era where Spare the Rod, Spoil the Employee was the title of the disciplinary section in the employee manual? Most urgent care centers in the United States discontinued the practice of caning employees after Michael Fay received his licks for vandalizing cars in Singapore in 1994. Now-a-days, you may want to consider following a few simple rules when it comes to employee remediation (as opposed …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: November, 2007
As an emerging distinct practice environment, urgent care is in the early stages of building a data set specific to its norms and practices. In Developing Data, JUCM will offer results not only from UCA’s annual benchmarking surveys, but also from research conducted elsewhere to present an expansive view of the healthcare marketplace in which urgent care seeks to strengthen its presence. In this issue: The 2007 Professional Research Consultants National Consumer Survey asked patients …
Read MoreAddressing Problem-based Coding and Other Challenges
Q.We are a fairly new urgent care center and could use some help on E/M coding. I have read on various urgent care websites that we can bill each visit as a new patient visit (as long as it isn’t a follow-up to an existing problem). Can you please give me some direction on where I can find this information? A.What you are referring to is “problem-based coding.” Never code in this way unless you …
Read MoreWhen Urgent Care is the Safest Place to Turn
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP In retrospect, it was bound to happen: An estranged husband received information from his insurance company about his wife’s outpatient treatment. He called the patient accounting office to confirm the residential address his wife gave to the registration clerk. He thanked the woman who supplied him with the information profusely, then got in his car and drove to the domestic violence shelter where his wife was recovering from the …
Read MoreEmphasizing the Positive Gets Results in Occ Med Sales
A successful occupational health sales professional should develop a mechanism to monitor his or her choice of words and commit to using the English language to the mutual advantage of both the provider and the sales prospects. However, sales professionals often make poor word choices at critical moments. Negative words abound in our daily vocabulary. Frequently used negative words include bad, poor, problem, complication, unacceptable, and difficult. When calling on an occupational medicine prospect, these …
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No Appointment Needed: The Resurgence of Urgent Care Centers in the United States
Urgent message: A new report from the California Health Care Foundation, excerpted here, examines how the growth of urgent care is influencing delivery of healthcare—and what the prospects for the future of the industry might be. Prepared for the California HealthCare Foundation by Robin M. Weinick, PhD and Renée M. Betancourt, BA The days of having a family doctor in town who cared for all of a patient’s health needs are long gone. In their …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: October, 2007
UCA’s Survey Committee has conducted two annual member surveys, to date, designed to establish benchmarks in an industry for which data have been sorely lacking. In Developing Data, we will share one or two tidbits from the second annual survey and other sources in an effort to help readers get a sense of what their peers are doing, and what kind of trends are developing as urgent care evolves. In this issue: Are payors reimbursing …
Read MoreProper Coding for Removal of Foreign Bodies
Q.Recently we removed a tampon that was retained for one week. What is the code for removing a foreign body from the vagina? A.Although this procedure involves significant work, and the resultant foul odor can leave an exam room unusable for hours, the procedure is considered to be a part of the E/M. Of course, this is hard to understand, since there is a code for removing a foreign body from the external ear canal …
Read MoreEffective Occupational Medicine Sales Through Effective Questioning
A productive occupational medicine sales effort is predicated on your ability to identify a prospect’s need and then to match that need with your services. Both require knowing when and how to ask the right questions. Why is Questioning So Important? Invariably, you begin your association with a prospect as“just another salesperson.” You must set yourself apart from the start. Breaking the ice to pique interest is one area in which well-constructed questions can secure …
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