Practice Management
Patients visit your urgent care center because they know they can get excellent care without waiting days for an appointment or languishing for hours in the waiting room. So why do so many seem to disregard your advice for postdischarge care or follow-up just as promptly? Before you shrug and file that in the “just one of those things” folder, bear in mind that your helping them to follow through may cement their positive experience …
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Urgent message: Follow-up after a patient visit is essential to the continuum of care and to the perception of customer service. Especially in the urgent care setting, where providers may have no ongoing relationship with a patient, the most basic office practices (eg, collecting accurate and accessible contact information) can seem deceptively simple but are of critical importance. Jimmie Toler, MSN, NP-C, Emily E. Johnson, PhD, and Barbara J. Edlund, PhD, ANP, BC Introduction Continuum …
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When an urgent care physician suggests that a patient see another clinician for follow-up care, patients usually take that advice, according to a study by the Uniersity of Minnesota and Urgent Care Partners. In fact, 66% not only took the doctor’s advice to seek further care, but went to the specific provider recommended (though a specific provider was recommended just 21% of the time). Overall, 76% of patients who were told to seek follow-up care …
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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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