Practice Management
Recently one evening, I meandered into a bar on iconic 6th Street in Austin, Texas— America’s epicenter for live music. Venues throughout the district feature free, live performances every night from some of the nation’s most talented musicians. On that particular evening, however, the sounds from one electric guitar coming from a small stage in a dark room cut through the humid air and grabbed my attention. I wandered in, found a seat at the …
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The urgent care industry continues to add de novo centers, according to data from Experity and National Urgent Care Realty. Although de novo growth slowed in 2023 by 5%, 2023 de novos are still 16% higher than 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. In addition to continued overall growth of the industry, the data indicates structural changes in who is opening de novos. A “de novo” urgent care refers to a center that did not previously …
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Benjamin Barlow, MD; Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC One of the biggest challenges facing urgent care operators is increased scrutiny in the form of payer reviews. More clients than ever are facing these administrative and financial burdens. Compounding the issue is that urgent care clinicians often struggle to understand coding guidelines and how to document in a way that shows their medical decision making, which is vital in care and in payer reviews. Prepayment …
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On February 5, 2024, the Bouncebacks! book club will talk through a new case from the book “Bouncebacks! Critical Care” (published in 2021) from 8PM to 9PM (Eastern) in a virtual meeting room. Fellow clinicians can join in the discussion of a case of a 52-year-old man with alcohol use disorder and chest pain. All the related information will be presented, and ownership of the book is not required to participate. Panelists include Heath Jolliff, …
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The Food And Drug Administration recently approved a device that provides non-invasive skin cancer screening at the point of care, according to Reuters. DermaSensor, a privately held company, says its spectroscopy technology can use light and artificial intelligence to evaluate cellular and subcellular characteristics to assist clinicians in identifying the presence of skin cancer in suspicious moles or lesions. A study by the Mayo Clinic of more than 1,000 patients showed that the device had …
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More parents are bringing their kids to urgent care, according to new national trend data captured in a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The percentage of children and adolescents (17 years old and younger) who had at least 1 visit to an urgent care center or a retail clinic in the past 12 months increased from 21.6% in 2021 to 28.4% in 2022. When CDC broke down the data into …
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In New Jersey, Hackensack Meridian Health is now offering its HMH Urgent Care, which integrates behavioral health with same-day urgent care and telemedicine visits. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, it’s the first urgent care that simultaneously provides both immediate medical care and services for psychiatric conditions as part of a strategy to reduce emergency department visits. The HMH Urgent Care suite includes short-term outpatient care for those 16 years and older to address anxiety, depression, mood …
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The JN.1 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus appears to be more contagious than other members of the Omicron family, driving indicators of infection levels and COVID-19 illness. Even so, this currently circulating variant seems to produce a more mild illness with less need for medical attention. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as reported in JAMA Network shows emergency department visits for COVID-19 are down 21% this year, and the percentage of …
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Massachusetts regulators are considering new measures to create a standard licensure for urgent care (UC) centers in the state in an effort to “apply care standards and improve quality of care,” according to the Worcester Business Journal. Officials also want the ability to collect uniform quality-of-care data from all UC operators, noting that last year, only about one-fourth of the centers in the state reported their data to the US Centers for Disease Control and …
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GoHealth Urgent Care recently announced plans to craft new health system partnerships and to open its 300th center location by the end of the year, according to a company press release. GoHealth currently operates about 270 centers in several states. At the same time, the company also announced leadership expansions to complement its growth strategy. Todd Latz, GoHealth’s Chief Executive Officer, noted two newly created roles on the executive team: Tom Oram will become the Chief …
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