Happy Holidays,

AUC Staff

Over the next weeks 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. The fourth edition described timely visits. This fifth edition gives a picture of our people-oriented staff.

People-oriented staff begins with hiring the right individuals. You can’t teach adults to be nice. By the time we are adults we have either learned to be nice or not. All the training in the world won’t change a person’s character. When you or your loved one is ill or hurt you want and deserve to be treated with respect and care. Your first and lasting impression of any business is often determined by the way you are treated. Your health care experience should be the same. Please know our intent is to serve you well.

When you visit Advantage Urgent Care Phoenix, Advantage Urgent Care Glendale or Advantage Urgent Care Surprise know that you will experience our people-oriented staff.

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.

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

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. This third edition describes our quality care.

Quality care begins with the right professionals. In my first blog I articulated that our providers are highly experienced board-certified and board-eligible physicians and physician assistants. Additionally our professional medical support staff is highly tenured and continuously trained in the latest medical service techniques. We treat your urgent care needs quickly and professionally. Lastly, we insure appropriate test results are forwarded to your family physician when follow-up treatment is necessary.

When you visit Advantage Urgent Care in Glendale know that you will experience the quality care you deserve.

What Would Happen to Medicare?

The proposal would set up a board that would research and propose solution to reduce the costs of Medicare.  The board would be specifically prohibited from proposing anything which would amount to rationing care for the elderly.  Instead the proposal would focus on reducing waste and fraud while making Medicare more efficient.

What if I Can Not Afford Health Insurance?

Individuals who make between 100%-400% above the federal poverty level would be eligible to receive credits to assist them in purchasing health care insurance.  The amount of credit would generally go down the more income an individual made.  For the poorest the credit may pay for all of their health care premiums.

Would Employers Be Forced to Provide Insurance?

Maybe.  If a business has over 50 full-time employees they will be forced to offer health care coverage or face a $750 fee per employee.  Businesses with less than 50 employees would be exempted from providing coverage.

What About Medicaid?

Medicaid would be expanded to cover all individuals under the age of 65 who make less than 133% of the federal poverty level.  Currently the poverty level is around $18,000 for a family of three.

Ref: Ryan Witt  -  Political Buzz Examiner

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. This second edition is focused on our professional medical support staff.

Generally the first and last medical person you come in contact with is a medical support staff. They’re the ones who perform triage initially to understand your symptoms and begin to gather medical information (temperature, blood pressure etc.). These factors contribute to a provider appropriately diagnosing and determining a treatment. Often treatment begins in the clinic. It is our tenured professional medical support staff administering the treatment. Beyond years of experience our staff is among the best trained in our business, with years of certification education, followed by continued in-house and external training.

When you visit Advantage Urgent Care know that you will be cared for by highly tenured and trained professional medical support staff.

According to Lockton Companies, the following is the immediate financial impact considerations for employer-sponsored health care plans:

Pre-Existing Condition Restrictions

Detail: Plans must remove pre-existing exclusions for children under the age of 19

Impact: Minimal

Lifetime Benefit Maximums

Detail: Plans cannot apply lifetime dollar limits on “essential benefits.”

Impact: Modest, for plan’s claims cost (.05-1.5%) Potentially dramatic for stop-loss premiums

Coverage of Adult Children

Detail: Dependent children remain eligible for coverage until age 26 regardless of student and marital status (prior to 2014, only if the child doesn’t have access to other employer-based coverage).

Impact: Modest. Potential increases to plan’s costs range fro .1-4.1%.

Trend in Plan’s Cost

Detail: Other factors in or related to the health reform bill will impact plan costs, such as increased administrative requirements, delays in generic-drugs coming to market and “Fear Factors” (i.e., reserve build-up by carriers and increased utilization by members)

Impact: Modest to significant, depending on the circumstances