Posted by Sonny Saggar on Tue, Feb 21, 2012 @ 04:19 PM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
Have you ever tried to make an appointment with a doctor (family physician, OBGYN, internist) and been told that you can't get seen for a couple of months?
Did you notice what time you were actually seen by the doctor when you had an 11am appointment? Was it more like 1230pm?
Not that you ever went to an ER with a non-emergency problem, but if you did, can you remember how many hours you had to wait?
I'm just sayin', but is it possible that most physicians never got the memo about customer service, patient 
satisfaction and that kind of thing?
Can you get online and preregister seeing your physician, just like you were at ticketmaster.com or travelocity.com? Would it make life easier if you could do that? Hey, what if they put that dreaded clipboard online so you could fill out all that boring stuff in the comfort of your living room or office, and take as long as you like about it?
Instead of just an email confirmation that you booked your appointment, what if someone (a real live person) actually called you back as well, say within half an hour to say they got your registration and suggested a good time to walk on in?
What about that clipboard? Don't you just hate that long list of things you've got to check off in that waiting room before you're even allowed to tell anyone what the problem is today? And they always seem to want you to pick up a pen fill out your insurance card information (even though you could swear they got that the last time you went in), so you can add 'writer's cramp' to your symptoms that made you go there in the first place?
How long does your physician actually sit down with you (assuming he/she actually sits down) to really look into your eyes and find out what the problem might be? 60 seconds? 2 minutes? 10 minutes?
Does your physician summarize the diagnosis and plan and then ask if you understood it all and whether you have any questions? Does the nurse or staff-member who discharges you ask whether it's all clear?
Do they electronically transmit your medication to your pharmacy of choice, or do they still live in the 20th century and insist on those 'security prescription pads'?
What happens when you finish talking with someone who's contracted to give you a service, such as a plumber, lawyer or accountant? That's right - they give you their business card. They may even ask you to call them if you have any questions about something. Why should physicians be any different? I mean, we're talking about your health, and we all forget to ask half a dozen questions when we're right there in the exam room talking to the doctor. I know - what if he gave you his business card and asked you to text, call or email him if you had any more questions, or if you weren't getting better within 48 hours? Fantasy world, I hear you say......not quite. Do you have your doctor's cellphone? His real actual cellphone number? No, I'm not joking: do ya? Do you think you should have it, just in case you really need to call him?
Does your doctor's office call you (and I'm not just talking about the doc himself - even his staff) a day or so after your visit and ask how you're doing? Would you like that?If it ever happened, what would it say about your physician and his/her staff?
- - - -
All the above comments and rhetorical questions are examples of the many brainstorming issues we discuss at St. Louis Urgent Cares (Downtown and Eureka) every single day. Downtown Medical Internal Medicine too!
Perhaps it's time you stopped surrendering to the unfortunate fact that "doctors just don't get it" and tried us out for size. We have a feeling you'll have one of those 'aha moments' when you see how we do things differently.
When they played that snippet on KSDK and ABC the other day, they found out about our cunning marketing ploy. Shhhhh, it's a secret. OK fine, here it is: we're great because we care.
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Sun, Jan 22, 2012 @ 01:49 PM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
OK this is another blant (blog-rant, my most recent neologism). Although I'm an entrepreneur, I'm still a physician and I as an internist, urgent care physician and al
so an emergency physician. I've been working ER since 1995, when I first worked in the beloved A&E (Accident and Emergency) Department in Stoke Mandeville in England. I wonder how they're doing...
Anyway, nostalgia aside, this post is all about what should be seen at an ER and what shouldn't. Why is this important? I'll tell you why. You may recall about 10 years ago there was this thing called 'ER Overcrowding', when all the ERs were at full capacity, when ambulances had to park in the shoulder of highways because they couldn't find an ER that had a room for their patient, because so many ERs were on diversion. As a result of that, a lot of tax-collected funding (federal, state and city) has been diverted to hospital systems that bemoan their overcrowding issues. This continues now, although the overc
rowding isn't a problem any more. Another solution was the advent of urgent care centers and retail clinics, which cater to the 85% of present-day ER cases that are not actually emergencies.
So now there's a bit of a revenue challenge. How can these privately owned hospital systems get more people to come to their facility (to their ER) rather than to the competition's (neither system having overcrowding problems any more)? In all this frenzy of competitive marketing, many have lost sight of what the 'E' in ER actually stands for. Many have forgotten that the 911 service, which is to be used for getting people quickly to ERs is not supposed to service departments that are profiteering because they offer some special promotions.
The latest promotion? Some hospital executives have decided, in their infinite wisdom, that if someone with an EMERGENCY needs to visit the EMERGENCY room, should first get online and get in quicker (yes, there's a company called InQuicker.com that does just that for the hospital that participates in this oxymoronic 'solution'), instead of calling 911.
It seems to me that if someone says they have chest pain or can't breathe or stroke-like symptoms, the online form should stop them and say "stop what you're doing and call 911 you idiot".
Similarly, if someone says they have a sore throat, or a cough or burning with urination or a small cut or a possibly broken foot, the online form should stop them and say "stop what you're doing and go see your primary care doctor or visit and urgent care or Walgreens clinic you idiot".
There you go, I've got it: hospitals should continue using InQuicker.com to verbally abuse patients who decide to use it for an ER visit. Perfect. What a great service to the community that would be. I take it all back, don't fire InQuicker.com - let's use it in every ER in the country! 
Seriously though, do you really want to take your husband in for a possible heart attack only to find that the ER doctor and nurse are busy rushing to the bedside of someone who has registered online via InQuicker.com to attend to his sore throat? Do you think it's socially responsible for people to use the ER for non-emergency conditions? We have many other places for that. In England, where taxpayers pay for medical care, us Emergency physicians were very comfortable with metaphorically throwing people out of the department because they came in with stuff which was inappropriate, e.g. foot pain for 3 years, migraine headaches, sore throats, sinusitis, bladder infections and all sorts of other NON-emergencies. It was considered a very antisocial thing to do if you went to the EMERGENCY department with something that quite obviously shouldn't be taking emergency staff away from the critical patients.
People, on behalf of all emergency physicians, nurses, techs and secretaries, as well as on behalf of all emergency patients and their families, please stop using the ER if you don't have an emergency. Don't you dare go online to register to be a patient in the ER, unless you want the unspoken wrath of the staff, not to mention other patients in the waiting room who just rushed in for their problem (appropriately) rather than logging on to the internet first and getting a 'guarantee' that they'll be seen ahead of everyone else. If you have time to do that, please go to a Walgreens/CVS or urgent care, assuming you can't see your primary care or family physician first.
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Sun, Jan 22, 2012 @ 01:14 AM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
Today's blog is a rant (maybe we should call it a blant?) about a national 'phenomenon' that serves to do nothing but delude the unsuspecting consumer. One of many I'm sure, but this one is particularly misleading.
Every year (typically in the spring and summer) I get approached (
along with probably every other physician in America) to have the 'privilege' of being in 'the forthcoming Best Doctors issue' of some area snazzy hyped-up magazine which is very popular, especially with female readers who, as we all know, are the chief decision-makers for most household purchases, be it a TV set, car or seeking medical care. With all due respect to the magazines, who desperately depend on the revenue from their 'Best Doctors' issue to survive for a few months, or risk being sent to the print-media-oblivion in the sky, where so many magazines are inevitably headed anyway, I make this blant!
There's a better way for the intelligent magazine reader to determine who are the best doctors, just like they would decide who are the best plumbers, or what is the best toy for their two-year old, or what's the best LED HDTV that's over 50 inches, and so on. You can find customer reviews on amazon.com. You can see reviews on Angie's List (even doctors). You can find reviews on Google.com/places and of course Yelp. There are many other such independent fora for posting your opinion for free, without any financial gain or loss, without anything else to motivate the person who makes the comment except to look out for his/her fellow consumer.
With three little kids (now aged 7, 5 and almost 3), my wife and I ALWAYS make a point of reading the reviews on Amazon.com (or whatever site we're buying stuff from) about toys and games. We go straight to the 1-star reviews, and find the ones that appear to have well-articulated concerns about the product.
The only point I'm making is this: it's fine to charge huge amounts to allow physicians to post presidential-looking photos of themselves in the centerfold of glossy magazines, but please, don't call them the 'BEST' physicians. Surely, it would be more accurate to say "the local physicians we sold expensive ads to" or something else which really describes the people in the magazine. I mean, who decides what makes a physician good, better or best, anyway? That's right, just like with a toy truck or a blender, the consumer decides. And not an individual consumer: it's gotta be a lot of them. Only with a large enough population of reviewers, does an opinion mean something. That's the basis behind scientific method and of course, as all these 'best doctors' know (or should know if they re
member their stuff from med school), evidence-based-medicine.
St. Louis Urgent Cares (Downtown Urgent Care and Eureka Urgent Care) refuses to participate in CLAIMING VALUE. We don't pay for it. We CREATE VALUE for our patients, and guess what, in turn they claim it on our behalf. Isn't that the right way to promote your true worth? Allow others to express their opinions, instead of paying someone to write what you want them to say about you? Hey maybe someone will get upset by my blog (a not so secret goal of mine by the way) and do a feature called 'Worst Doctors' with me as the cover guy? That would be so cool (kerching)! Because I'm bad! You know it!
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Sun, Jan 15, 2012 @ 03:55 PM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
Shown below are some suggestions I found online for how to cure/soothe a sore throat, apart from visiting the urgent care, that is! Mostly old-wives' tales, but some of them are based in scientific fact as well as connected to modern genuine remedies. I just thought I'd write a different kind of blog article today and ask my readership what is their favorite way of treating a sore throat, chiefly because I got one today (after months of being perfectly fine and like a typical guy, I'm in denial that I'm even sick). I like to say macho things to my wife like "I don't get sick" and other comical statements, just so she can post what I say on Facebook!
Anyway, my personal favorite is ginger tea and sleeping with a handkerchief around my neck, much like the turtle neck suggestion. I find it really works. It might have something to do with raising the ambient temperature in my throat (much like a fever would) and making it easier for my immune system to be bacteriostatic or bacteriocidal, not sure which. I'm curious about just eating a lettuce leaf - that one just seems way too simple to work......
What do you do? If you have a scientific basis behind what you do, especially if it works, I'd love to hear it! Simply add your comments below or at facebook.com/ducstl
- Gargling with salt water will reduce swelling in the throat. The excess salt in the gargle helps to draw less saturated fluids out, reducing inflammation. It does NOT kill bacteria. The best way to treat a sore throat is to gargle with warm salt water 6-8 times a day.
- Of course, the best solution is to eliminate the cause instead of treating the symptoms. Eating half a leaf of fresh sage, combined with 1/8 teaspoon of turmeric, will greatly reduce the drainage and congestion. This works at least as well as the pharmaceutical medications (and without their side-effects).
- You should make your body alkaline to boost its uptake of oxygen. Drinking homemade lemonade with a pinch of baking soda periodically is a fast, safe, and effective way of doing this. Lemon juice is an acid, but it makes the body more alkaline because of the way it gets processed. The baking soda will add buffering bicarbonates to make the body resistive to becoming acidic again, which is the normal state during sickness. None of these things will provide immediate relief for the throat pain. That requires time.
- To treat the pain (and most effectively kill the bacte
ria) use a small amount of cayenne pepper with 3% hydrogen peroxide in a gargle. Sea salt is also fine to add. The remedies mentioned in previous answers really are effective, but not as fast. Your body will very rapidly deplete its iodine reserves anytime you are sick, so I recommend adding a quarter-sized patch of 2% iodine on your skin once a day, and more often if it absorbs rapidly. A couple of drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide in each ear periodically is helpful too. Even drinking a tiny amount of it in a drink will give your body a tremendous boost.
- I would suggest raw honey. Mix it with tea and lemon for a refreshing taste. Don't forget to use "raw" and not just ordinary processed and refined honey. I suggest that you use 1 standard drinking glass of hot to warm water 1 teaspoon of cayenne powder, and a couple pinches of salt for good measure.
- A great natural remedy is a spoonful of tehina or sesame paste - this home remedy is used quite often in the Middle East.
- Take a small bowl. Squeeze some lemon into it and then add some salt. Take a tablespoon and drink some. Drink some more. Then gargle the last bit and spit it out. It might taste horrible, but afterwards - in about a minute - I felt some relief.
- In desperation I tried chewable ginger tablets, known as Ginger Trips. I took 2 to start with and then an additional tablet whenever the pain started to come back. It was the only thing that worked of the various things that I tried. After I controlled the pain with the ginger, I used a 3% hydrogen peroxide gargle to help get rid of the lingering bacteria and took vitamin C to boost my immune system.
- Get some throat coat tea bags (Traditional Medicinals, at the health food store); they contain licorice and that soothes the throat and lungs. Don't use it if you have high blood pressure or liver disorders, though.
- Take throat lozenges and contact your doctor.
- Eat some lettuce; it helps the pain a lot.
- Gargle with warm salt water every morning and night and take lime/lemon and honey by the spoonful (relish it really; this is actually quite delicious). Your sore throat should be completely gone in a week (or less).
- Wear lots of turtle-neck sweaters, get some throat spray, and some medicine. Don't drink anything cold or have anything cold to eat, and buy lots of cough drops, too.
- The best way to get rid of a sore throat is to drink lots of hot drinks - grape juice is good - or take homeopathic medicine.
- To get relief and speed up the healing process, dissolve 2 x 500mg Aspirin tablets in 50 ml of warm water and add 2 teaspoons of Manuka honey. Sip this during the day and you won't even know you have a sore throat. Manuka honey has a bio active component with a numbering system that starts at 5 and goes up 20-25.
- You could also try some Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen. This will ease - and maybe get rid of - the pain for about 4-5 hours. Keep doing this, over and over again, until your sore throat has gone.
- Avoid citrus/acidic fruits or food. It can make your sore throat worse. You can try going to the Asian market to buy some pickled plums. Take one plum and mush it up, then add warm water, and stir. Then drink some, but not all at once. Also take tiny sips. This may sound disgusting, but trust me, it works! When you drink it, don't expect it to taste good... just drink it as if it is soup.
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 @ 07:42 AM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
How to Choose an Internist
A specialist in internal medicine (internist) is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in adults and adolescents. Their training emphasizes the ability to make difficult diagnoses, direct complex medical investigations and manage most diseases of the internal organs. In addition, an internist promotes disease prevention by advising patients about risk factors associated with adult onset diseases.
Just as important is the internist's role as a referrer or gatekeeper to specialists. When you have symptoms that require attention by a specialist, your internist can be the person who determines which type of specialist you need to see. Afterward, the internist and specialist can coordinate your care. 
Internists typically function as the primary care physician for adults.
An Internist's Training and Credentials
Internists complete medical school and training in a graduate residency program, studying physical, mental and emotional aspects of human health and all of the body's systems. Their education requires time spent in classrooms, medical offices and hospitals, working directly with patients and other medical professionals.
There are two forms of residency programs: one leads to a Medical Doctor (MD) and the other leads to a Osteopathic Doctor (DO). Both paths require a similar amount of education but focus differently; a MD practices allopathic medicine, considered to be conventional medicine in the United States, and looks at the body as a series of separately functioning systems. A DO learns more about the human musculoskeletal system and approaches the body as a whole system. In actual practice, the medical education received by MDs and DOs today is quite similar.
After their first three years of training, some internists begin the practice of medicine as general internal medicine specialists. Others continue their education beyond residency in fellowship programs, which allow them to concentrate in specialty areas such as cardiology or endocrinology.
Once a physician has completed these aspects of education, he may apply to be a certified member of the American Board of Internal Medicine or the American College of Osteopathic Internists. Board membership requires frequent recertification, and to accomplish that, the physician must complete annual coursework requirements.
How to Choose the Right Internist for You
To find the right fit between you and an internist, you'll want to identify possibilities, research their credentials and then assess their capabilities for partnering with you.
Make a List of Possibilities
- Find other patients who have similar medical challenges as you. Ask them for names of internists they like to work with.
- Check with your insurance company for a list of doctors who work with your insurance.
Compare these lists to find names in common with your needs. You will want to spend more time learning about these internists by researching their credentials and capabilities.
Research an Internist's Credentials
Using the list of names you have collected, look for the following information:
- An MD or DO degree from an accredited medical school and residency program.
- Completion of a fellowship, if you seek help in a specialty area.
- Board certification from the board that makes sense for your needs. This may be the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American College of Osteopathic Internists, or others. A master list of medical boards can be found through the American Board of Medical Specialties. The master list of osteopathic boards is located at the American Osteopathic Association.
- Licensure from the state in which you will seek care. The Federation of State Medical Boards provides a master list of licensing bodies.
- A review of possible disciplinary actions. Further information can sometimes be found by inputting the doctor's name and location in to a search engine.
Assess an Internist's Capabilities
Once you have vetted your list based on the criteria above, you'll want to ask the following questions to determine which doctors are worth meeting:
- Is this doctor on the list of providers who work with my insurance?
- Does this doctor have admitting privileges at my choice of hospitals?
- Is this doctor's location convenient for me? What are the office hours? Is the office nearby, located on a bus route or easy to access if I use a wheelchair?
- What happens if I call this doctor in an emergency? How quickly will I get a return call?
- If the doctor is not available, is there someone else who can help me when I make a phone call or need an appointment?
If you are satisfied with the answers, you'll want to consider these questions:
- Does the doctor see you within a fair amount of time of your appointment time?
- Does the doctor listen to your questions and not interrupt you?
- Is the doctor respectful?
- Does the doctor explain the meaning of difficult terms and otherwise communicate effectively with you?
- Does the doctor spend enough time with you?
- Are you comfortable with this doctor?
Finding the right internist may seem like a long, involved process, however, knowing that this doctor may partner with you for a lifetime makes it worth your time and effort.
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Mon, Jan 02, 2012 @ 03:15 PM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
The fist bump (also called Fo' Knucks or knuckle bump and knuckle touch) is a gesture similar in meaning to a handshake or high five. A fist bump can also be a symbol of giving respect. It can be followed by various other hand and body gestures and may be part of a dap greeting. It is commonly used in baseball as a form of celebration with teammates, and with opposition players at the end of a game.
The gesture is performed when two participants each form a closed fist with one hand and then lightly tap the front of their fists together. The participant's fists may be either vertically-oriented (perpendicular to the ground) or horizontally-oriented. Unlike the standard handshake, which is typically performed only with each participants' right hand, a fist bump may be performed with participants using either hand.
According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the fist bump was created by Hall of Famer Stan Musial as a way to prevent getting colds from shaking so many hands.
Time magazine cites knuckle bumping in the 1970s with
NBA player Baltimore Bullets guard Fred Carter. Th
e "fist bump" or "pound" can easily be traced as far back as the late 1800s and early 1900s to the boxer's handshake as a way to greet when hands are gloved
.In fact, the fist bump's origins may well lie in the animal kingdom as the gesture is natural behaviour observed in primates, according to a book published by Margaret Power in 1991.
Someone helped popularize the fist bump in the early 1990s. Michael Jordan extended his hand in a fist bump to all the opponents on the court prior to the opening of the game, starting a new trend.
On June 3, 2008, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama fist bumped during a televised presidential campaign speech in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the gesture became known as "the fist bump heard 'round the world".
In light of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the dean of medicine at the University of Calgary, Tomas Feasby, suggested that the fist bump may be a "nice replacement of the handshake" in an effort to prevent transmission of the virus.
At St. Louis Urgent Cares, we are proud to be part of the greatest city in the world, as well as the one that brought you a drug-free method to fight the spread of infection around the planet. Therefore, we would like to announce that our staff will pr
efer to fist-bump you instead of shake your hand, when we greet you upon meeting for the first time. I guess we could bow, to really prevent infections! Seriously though, all those Purell hand sanitizers that have been placed outside all the patient exam rooms in every hospital and clinic around the country - could we have just made an announcement that we should all start fist-bumping instead? Now that's the kind of healthcare reform I'm talking about!
I'd like to invite everyone to come in for a demonstration of the fist-bump - the most efficient infection prophylaxis known to humanity. I'm typically here at Downtown Urgent Care on Wednesday mornings if you want to pop in and see me to discuss this revolutionary procedure. The first half of this article was adapted from Wikipedia by the way ;-) but we would like to say that St. Louis Urgent Cares Champion the Fist Bump.
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Fri, Dec 30, 2011 @ 07:30 PM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
Workplace injuries are more common that you might imagine. Although we often associate dangerous job conditions with construction or manufacturing, there are countless on-the-job incidents that occur in fields like office work, delivery services and the food industry. Accidents happen, and they don't discriminate based on your line of work.
At
Downtown Urgent Care, we understand the importance of keeping employees healthy and safe on the job. That's why we've assembled this list of the most frequently occurring
workplace injuries. While not designed to be comprehensive, we hope that it will help you identify areas in your business where employees might be at risk—and find ways to prevent accidents in the future.
1. Falls
Fall, slips and trips are a leading cause of workplace injury. Whether the result of loss of balance, uneven, slick or greasy floors, or unstable equipment, a fall can result in painful sprains, head injuries and broken bones. A serious fall can even lead to paralysis or death.
2. OverexertionWhen employees overexert themselves either through lifting, pulling or pushing, injuries can occur. Because they involve damage to nerves, muscles or the spine, these injuries can be both painful and slow-to-heal.
3. Auto AccidentsWe often think that auto accidents are limited to the trucking or delivery industries. Unfortunately, this is not the case. They are a common occurrence among any group of employees who travel from one job site to another. Sales reps, attorneys, even sports teams can be involved in accidents that would be considered workplace injuries.
4. Repetitive Motion
When the human body is asked to do the same movement over and over again, repetitive motion injuries can occur. Most often seen among office workers or IT professionals, these injuries are caused by long hours at keyboards, computers or other stationary equipment. While treatable, conditions like tendonitis and carpal tunnel are painful and can negatively impact employee productivity.
5. Heavy Equipment AccidentsLarge construction or factory equipment is capable of causing serious injury or even death. Employees are routinely injured by equipment malfunction. There are also incidents where employees have become trapped—caught in, under or between heavy equipment. Lacerations, compression injuries, fractures or worse can be the result.
6. Collisions With ObjectsOccasionally, an employee will collide with an object such as a desk or chair. Other times, they will be hit by flying objects or debris while working. In either case, quick medical attention is the key to ensuring that the employee doesn't experience any kind of permanent, physical damage.
Downtown Urgent Care is a high-quality medical care facility committed to serving the needs of both you and your employees. That's why we offer same-day walk-in appointments, and have a dedicated Occupational Medicine team standing by to handle workplace injuries. From evaluation to treatment and follow-up, our staff is able to manage workers compensation issues from beginning to end. Our Health Manager will provide consistent and timely communication to both you and your employee regarding the recommended treatment options, and will handle all record-keeping and follow-up appointments as well.
With our convenient downtown location and extended office hours, Downtown Urgent Care is ideally situated to serve all of your company's healthcare and worker compensation needs. From the boardroom to the factory floor, we can make a difference in the health and welfare of your employees. Contact us at 314-436-9300 today to learn more.
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Fri, Dec 23, 2011 @ 01:09 AM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
Here's a thought. Instead of giving everyone Christmas presents, why not give them presence? Your presence as well as theirs? 
Parents who work all the time (emergency services, travel, department stores), do you realize how much your kids miss you? Instead of making a few extra grand by working 80 frickin' hours a week, consider refusing to 'sell Christmas', and give your presence to your family instead!
Spouses, you should do the same, especially if you're fighting more, even if money's tight and y
ou dread seeing each other some days because the most trivial comment morphs into a huge quarrel. Instead of giving each other expensive Christmas presents, why not give each other your presence?
I was asked to work in the ER overnight on Christmas Eve, for a ridiculously large bonus, but my wife stopped me and asked if I was seriously planning "to sell Christmas". She's right, as usual, and of course. So I decided that it certainly is better to be with my family, giving them my presence, instead of a few extra presents. My wife is always teaching me this kinda stuff. So are my kids.
A good clue is when my 4 year old asked if he could come to work me the other morning, or when my 2 year old asked if she could come with me to work for a nightshi
ft in the ER. I put her in the car and drove her up and down the drive and then dropped her at the front door, where she seemed most put out that she wasn't actually going to clock in with me! My ever-present wife of course had to tidy up the mess, wipe away the tears and kiss the little tyke, persuading her to go to sleep at 10.30pm, almost 3 hours later than when she was supposed to be asleep already!
So instead of going to amazon.com or the mall, consider what some hugs, kisses and personal time would do for your family instead. I hope my wife doesn't comment on this blog article, because she'd be the first to point out how I'm not always practising what I'm now preaching. And she's right, of course, and as usual.
Instead of watching your kids out of the corner of your eye, playing video games or endless hours of mindless TV, while you check your email/texts/tweets/facebook postings on your smartphone, perhaps it'd be a better idea to sing together, dance to your favorite songs, get all dressed up into the warmest clothes and go for a walk, start a fire (outside camping maybe, or in your own fireplace). Just do stuff together. Baking a cake? Have the kids do certain tasks. Make them feel useful, important and involved. These are the things they'll re
member. Not what they scored on plants v zombies. Not what Dora The Explorer, Curious George or Scooby Doo were doing on the TV. They'll remember your smiles, your laughs and your tickling them until they'd pee!
Maybe your wife needs a backrub (I know mine always does). Maybe your husband just wants to sit quietly and relax with a tea/coffee/wine/whiskey and hang out and chat about nothing heavy. Maybe you need to be the source of each other's definition of 'relaxation'.
Anyway, I'm not making excuses for guys. God knows we never buy our Christmas presents on time. I'm just saying Christmas doesn't come from a store. It comes from the heart. It comes from being together and sharing each other's presence, not just presents.
You could die suddenly tomorrow. You really might. I hate to say it, but it needs to be said. Shouldn't you always kinda consider that possibility, without of course being driven into some paranoid anxiety state, and do the things that are important to you, your significant other, your kids, your parents, your coworkers and your good friends? This adds a whole new meaning to the term 'urgent care' doesn't it? Shouldn't we be urgently caring and thinking about the people we love? Giving them our presence?
While I'm on the subject, your presence (and that of the people you love) can really be helped by looking after your health, both physical and mental. Of course, I've gotta segway this blog article into healthcare somehow right? Anyway, you get the idea. Look after your presence and give it to anyone and everyone you care about and have a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS this year!
With love from St. Louis Urgent Cares (always present and available except of course, we're closed on Christmas Day) and me, Sonny Saggar.
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Sat, Dec 03, 2011 @ 05:18 PM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
Downtown Urgent Care has developed a strong following since it opened in March 2009 because of its high quality medical care and myriad of specialists. The clinic serves downtown residents, working professionals and visitors to the area. It accepts most forms of payment and prides itself on treating its patients like family.
At Downtown Urgent Care, patients are met by friendly, experienced staff and attended to in a professional, timely manner. You do not need an appointment to receive treatment at the executive-grade facility, which boasts "being a nicer experience than the uptown west county suburban practice", conveniently located at 916 Olive Street and is easily accessible for most businesses and residences in the downtown and the surroundong area. This independent clinic offers less expensive options to companies looking for medical services for employees, including worker’s compensation care, flu shots, employee physicals and more.
Downtown Urgent Care is open seven days per week and available for most emergency/urgent medical procedures; board-certified physicians and nurse practitioners at the clinic can administer IVs, take x-rays, run EKGs and all acute blood work, suture wounds, set basic fractures, drain abscesses and so much more. For patients with major, life-threatening medical emergencies, doctors at the clinic communicate with hand-picked specialists, many of whom also hold a clinic day in the same building, while transporting patients quickly and efficiently using the 50-foot ambulance bay directly in front, right there on Olive Street.
Specialists at the Downtown Urgent Care facility include Downtown's only internists, Dr. Sonny Saggar and Dr. Rishi Shah, as well as specialists in the gastroenterology, podiatry, hand surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, chiropractic, cardiology and ear, nose and throat fields, all of whom opened offices to serve the fast-growing population of residents and workers in downtown St. Louis.
While the Downtown Urgent Care clinic is not a grant-assisted clinic, it does organize and hold numerous year-round health fairs (at the request of area employers) that feature specialist speakers, cholesterol panels, prostate and thyroid lab testing, and more. The health fairs are fun and informative, featuring interesting guest speakers and team-building games for office-workers, complete with prizes for the employees who participate. The clinic also offers flu shot clinics on site or at local businesses that book in advance.
Downtown Urgent Care is also dedicated to workers compensation patients, exclusively for its corporate clients. The clinic works to be mindful of the needs of both the client (the employer) as well as the patient (the employee).
Pre-register for your appointment at Downtown Urgent Care online today on our website (but remember you can also 'just walk-in' seven days per week without an appointment). Pre-registering will save you time and can be done from the comfort of your home or office; when you come in, all you'll have to do is verify your information and sign.
The goal of Downtown Urgent Care (as well as Downtown Medical Specialists) is to remain independent of the various big hospital networks, keeping patients out of the hospital as much as possible, practising common-sense medical care as the top priority, not finding out ways to just make more money, which appears to have unfortunately become the big-box hospital-way of doing things. We are 'going against the grain' of all practices being swallowed up by the big systems. We believe there is still a place for the 'friendly-neighborhood physician' who is not just another hospital-hired-gun.
If you'd like to discuss what the Downtown Urgent Care facility can do for your company, please contact our Office Manager Renita Barnes on 314-210-4807 or email her at renita@dhwstl.com. We look forward to serving you and meeting all your urgent care needs.
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Posted by Sonny Saggar on Thu, Dec 01, 2011 @ 04:41 PM
Urgent Matters THE blog for 'The Non-Emergency Room'.
At Downtown Urgent Care, we truly believe that our independence from any hospital system results in a more honest, less profit-driven approach to medical care. We don't ever suggest hospitalization unless it's really necessary. We don't have beds in the building that need filling.
We were amused to notice that some ERs are offering an online advanced web registration 
service called InQuickER.com which actually costs the patients an additional $10. So does this mean that when you're having an EMERGENCY that needs you to go to the EMERGENCY room, such as a heart attack, stroke or respiratory distress, before calling 911 you should first sit down at your PC and register online? What genius hospital executive thought this up? Out of gratitude for the belly laughs this provides ER physicians all over the country, we're going to be GIVING AWAY $10 for all those who register online with us for their NON-EMERGENCY problem.
If you register online from our website during the month of December 2011, and you come in and get seen, fulfilling all your financial obligations, we will give you $10 bill at discharge for using our online web registration process! This only applies to 'sick visits' (i.e. not flu shots, drug screens, school physicals and so on). Why are we doing this?
- To poke fun at the hospital-run EMERGENCY ROOMs that charge $10 for patients to inappropriately pre-register online for problems that are obviously not emergencies (if they were, they shouldn't be messing around on the internet: they should be calling 911);
- To promote our own web registration process, which is used appropriately for those non-emergency patients who have the social responsibility not to clog up the EMERGENCY rooms with minor illnesses and injuries;
- Because it's the holidays and we want to share the love (STL) in Saint Louis!
Even the insurance companies (regardless of how you feel about them) are telling people about the 'alternatives to the ER'. This article by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, summarizes the main point and compares your options very well. Or this one by United Healthcare. Just google 'alternative to ER' and you'll find out all you need to know.
Social responsibility is more than a cliche. As an ER doc for 1
6 years, I've always been amazed (for want of a better word) at how so many non-emergency problems present to the Emergency Room. A sore throat, a urine infection, an earache, a cough, a sprain, a minor cut that needs stitches, an abscess that needs lancing, an STD, a rash, the list goes on. MOST of the time, these things are NOT emergencies. Why on Earth did people (I say did because more and more are realizing the better alternatives) choose to spend several hours in an ER waiting room, paying $250 for a copay, and seeing the same doctor they could have seen at an urgent care, for much lower cost and in a far quicker time? Why? Was it the TV show? Leaving aside the financial and time disadvantages of going to an ER for a non-emergency problem, what about your social responsibility to your community? What if someone you know or are related to is having a TRUE emergency and needs to get care from the highly skilled emergency physicians and nurses at our area ERs? Do you really want to clog up the ER with your m
inor illness or injury?
I don't know how to ask these questions without sounding insensitive, but honestly, these questions need to be asked. Just because you can go to the ER for your cut thumb, or your runny nose, doesn't mean you should! I wish I could shout it from the rooftops, until people finally get it.
So 'to err' may be only human I suppose, but 'to ER' is plain stupid sometimes!
916 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101 | 314.436.9300 | DowntownUrgentCareSTL.com
623 West 5th Street, Eureka, MO 63025 | 636.549.2100 | EurekaUrgentCare.com
Disclaimer
This blog is for general discussion, education, entertainment and amusement. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice nor are any hypothetical cases discussed intended to be construed as medical advice. Please do not contact me with specific medical questions or concerns. All clinical cases on this blog are presented for educational or general interest purposes and every attempt has been made to ensure that patient confidentiality and HIPAA are respected. All cases are fictionalized, either in part or in whole, depending on how much I needed to embellish to make it a good story to protect patient privacy.
All Content is Copyright of the author, and reproduction is prohibited without permission.