by Marius Ged, on Nov 7, 2022 4:00:37 PM
Welcome to the November edition of our monthly urgent care news, brought to you by Ged Lawyers.
Our roundups cover everything from new techniques and research to the latest firm growth strategies for increased revenue. Stay tuned for updates on the latest happenings in medical imaging!
What's New in Florida Radiology
1.) Florida Urgent Care Clinics Saw a Significant Increase in Traffic Following Hurricane Ian
In the days following Hurricane Ian, urgent care clinics saw a traffic increase of an estimated 20 percent. Patients sought treatment for various concerns, including eye injuries, sprains, wounds, and animal bites.
Specifically, AdventHealth Centra Care in Orlando administered 20 percent more tetanus shots for patients with puncture wounds or cuts. A few patients even reported carbon monoxide poisoning from running generators indoors.
Most of these injuries resulted from Floridians wanting to clean up their homes and not taking proper precautions.
"I think it’s just a matter of people getting out there, doing their cleanup — not wearing gloves, not wearing shoes, you know, protective devices, wearing eye protection,” Hendrix said. “All those things are important to remember," said Dr. Tim Hendrix, senior medical director of Centra Care.
Experts suggest the increased number of injuries will continue into the coming weeks, following typical hurricane trends.
Industry Updates
1) USDA Unveils $100 Million in Grants for Rural Healthcare Development
This October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it would offer $110 million in grants supporting healthcare facility development in rural towns across the country. Specifically, the Emergency Rural Health Care Grants Program funding will support the construction of new healthcare clinics, as well as renovating aging ones and equipping facilities with new equipment.
In total, 208 healthcare organizations in rural areas in 43 states and Guam will receive funding. These include 12 areas that support populations that primarily work in the coal industry and are transitioning to cleaner-energy industries.
Larger grants will help local healthcare organizations with facility development and supply purchasing. Additional funds will support telehealth program development, boost staffing, and increase COVID vaccination and testing.
"Access to modern and sustainable healthcare infrastructure is critical to the health, well-being, and prosperity of the millions of people who live in rural and Tribal communities," said USDA Secretary Xochitl Torres-Small.
2) Consumers Increasingly Prefer Telehealth Meetings Over In-Person Care
The pandemic accelerated patients' reliance on telehealth services far above pre-pandemic levels. The fourth-annual J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Telehealth Satisfaction Study found that patients not only accessed virtual appointments more often than they did before COVID-19 but also that they preferred these online sessions to in-person ones.
J.D. Power surveyed more than 4,000 patients who used telehealth services from June to July of 2022. 67 percent of respondents used virtual services, up from only 37 percent three years earlier. The vast majority also responded positively to their telehealth visits. 94 percent said they “definitely will” or “probably will” use virtual health services again.
The survey also included the types of services respondents preferred to receive virtually. They are:
- 80 percent preferred telehealth for prescription refills;
- 72 percent for "reviewing medication options";
- 71 percent for "discussing test results"
- 57 percent for "regular mental health visits."
Growing Your Practice
1) Urgent Care Apps Are the Future of the Industry
In a recently-published report, Nova 1 Advisor predicts the value of urgent care apps will grow from 2.1 billion USD in 2020 to 8.9 billion by the end of 2027. Overall, the research team suggests that the value of these apps will increase by a CAGR of 40.1 percent over that period.
Urgent care apps serve several purposes, including providing virtual care for chronic pain and anxiety. They also allow patients to book clinic appointments, preventing bottlenecks at in-person facilities. Moreover, many urgent care clinics use them for real-time monitoring and scheduling.
What are some of the reasons for the rapid and continued growth of these apps? For one, smartphone connectivity is growing worldwide. At the same time, diseases like stroke, diabetes, and heart disease are increasing, escalating the need for communication between patients and their healthcare teams.
Patients and healthcare practitioners increasingly turn to digital communication tools in all aspects of their lives.
2) What Ged Lawyers Needs from You to Explore Breach of Contract Claims
When you partner with Ged Lawyers to seek reimbursement for unpaid claims, what do we need from you?
The first step in the partnership is signing a HIPAA-compliant Business Associate agreement that details the terms of working together.
Next, to help us identify unpaid claims submitted by your clinic, we ask for three pieces of information:
- The Assignment of Benefits (AOB);
- The Explanation of Benefits (EOB); and
- The name of the car insurance carrier.
Once we have that information from you, our proprietary software locates unpaid PIP claims, and we can begin the claim recovery process.
After that, we get started on a retroactive PIP audit for your clinic, checking for unpaid claims over the last five years. We cap our recovery time at five years because Florida institutes a statute of limitations on PIP claims.
Tracking down unpaid claims is an arduous process for medical providers. A partnership with our firm removes the hassle of getting your outstanding PIP claims paid by insurance companies.
Call us at (561) 867-4765 or toll-free at 844 - 4GEDLAW to schedule a consultation.
