Walkin for Amazing Care – Timely Visits

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

At Advantage Urgent Care we advocate “walk in for amazing care.” So what does amazing care look and feel like?

Over an 11 week period I will be outlining how we at Advantage Urgent Care define Amazing Care. The first edition was dedicated to our providers. The second edition focused on our professional medical support staff. The third edition discussed our quality care. This fourth edition describes timely visits.

Timely visits begin with utilization of our Web-check-in. On this site you will note on every page the button that links you to checking-in online. With your registration in the system you will be contacted by telephone to advise you of your appointment. Additionally, Web-check-in significantly speeds up the process at the front desk when you arrive and saves you time sitting in our waiting room.. Secondly, even for those patients who walk in without using our Web-check-in service, wait times are minimal. Lastly, we are very proud of our “total-time-in-clinic.” We challenge any of our competitors to provide the quality of care delivered at Advantage Urgent Care combined with our optimizing in and out time.

Whether you visit Advantage Urgent Care in Surprise or Advantage Urgent Care in Glendale, know that you will experience timely visits.

Health Care Reform – Positives & Negatives

Monday, May 17th, 2010

 The following summary of the Obama Healthcare reform is posted on “Nursing Influence.” The author is cited below. In order to view responses click on the link below:

http://nursinginfluence.com/obamas-healthcare-reform/

Positives in Obama’s Healthcare Reform

• Insurance for those people who have “pre-existing conditions” (someone with cancer cannot be denied healthcare coverage because of the known cost of the treatment)
• Reduction of the “donut hole” for seniors’ prescriptions (greatly reduces the cost of seniors’ medications)
• Expanded eligibility for medicaid coverage (more people will be able to sign up for medicaid assistance)
• Reduction in Medicare co-pays for preventative care (cheaper co-pays to allow/encourage people to get preventative care, such as regular check-ups, vaccinations, and cancer screenings)
• Children can stay on their parents’ insurance until their 27th birthday (reduces the number of young adults without health insurance)

But, as you take some time to read into what each of these points mean, you may see some not-so-great pieces.

Negatives in Obama’s Healthcare Reform

• Reduction in medicare payments to hospitals/physicians (meaning that hospitals/physicians may stop accepting medicare patients and patients may have a difficult time finding a provider)
• Families who currently have insurance coverage may see an increase in their deductibles (as insurers are required to cover everyone, even people with preexisting conditions, their costs will go up, as will the cost to the consumer)
• The fine for people who elect not to have health insurance (proposed at approximately $700/year) may not be enough “encouragement” for healthy people to purchase insurance. Insurance will generally cost more than $700/year for these consumers, so it may be cheaper to elect to forgo coverage, which negates the benefit of having everyone insured.
• The changes require individual states to continue or expand existing programs to receive matching federal funds. Coming from someone who lives in a state with an intense budget crisis, I don’t see how adding to each state’s budget is feasible at this time.  Governor Brewer wrote a letter to President Obama after the healthcare bill was signed, outlining the issues that the reform will create for Arizona. (Governor Brewers Letter pdf)

·         Amy Sellers, RN BSN CCRN CSC

Amy is a cardiovascular ICU nurse in the valley of Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated in 2006 from a liberal arts university in Illinois with her bachelors in nursing (BSN). After graduation, she moved to the southwest to start her career in a warmer climate.
Over the past 4 years, she has gained her CCRN and CSC certifications through AACN, become a preceptor to new graduate nurses, and has started work as a relief charge nurse in the CVICU. She has recently taken on the role of a clinical instructor for a local community

West Phoenix Location Coming Soon

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

In order to better serve our patients, we at Advantage Urgent Care are excited to announce the addition of our West Phoenix Urgent Care location. Located at 9515 W. Camelback Rd, our newest clinic has 9 treatment rooms and will open to the public during the summer of 2010. As we draw near our opening, we will post more information regarding this newest location. We are extremely excited about this opportunity to assist the community with their health care needs.