Here's What To Do If You Accidentally Chop Off Your Finger

Source: Self

By Amy Marturana

October 4, 2016

Lindsay Lohan lost part of her finger in a boating accident. Here’s what to do if this happens to you.

Over the weekend, Lindsay Lohan lost part of her ring finger in a boating accident. TMZ reportsthat the actress was pulling up the anchor and her finger got caught. Lohan later tweeted (then deleted her tweet) that the bottom part of the finger was ripped off. Luckily, her friends found the detached piece and rushed her to a hospital, where a plastic surgeon was able to reattach it.

Even if you aren’t cruising on a boat off the coast of Turkey like LiLo, chances are you’ve been in a situation where your fingers were at risk (read: in the kitchen with a sharp knife). So what should you do if you ever find yourself with a major gash or a severed digit?

Robert Korn, M.D., medical director of Northwell Health GoHealth Urgent Care, tells SELF that if you cut off part of your finger, the first thing you need to do is apply direct pressure to the wound with a clean cloth or piece of clothing. “Apply enough pressure so that it does not bleed through this covering,” Korn says. “It can usually be applied with the non-injured hand by grasping your fist around the injured finger with a cloth and squeezing.” Then, get to a doctor ASAP, while maintaining pressure to prevent blood loss.

If you can locate the detached piece, it’s important to keep it clean so it’s viable for reattachment. Korn says to wrap it in gauze or a clean cloth, and put it in an airtight sealable bag, like a Ziploc. Combine ice and water in a bowl or bucket big enough for the plastic bag you just put the digit into. “Put the sealed plastic bag in this ice/water mixture. Make sure that no water gets into the plastic bag, and transport with [you] to medical care.” If water gets into the bag and touches the delicate tissue, “it will cause swelling making the part harder to attach,” Korn says. Freezing water can also cause cell damage. “Ideally, doctors want the amputated part cool, not frozen.”

Whether or not a doctor is able to save your finger depends on both the nature of the injury and the state of both the remaining finger and the unattached part. According to the National Institutes of Health, risks of replantation (reattachment) surgery include bleeding, infection, death of tissue, reduced nerve function, stiffness, and pain that continues after surgery. “The decision to reattach is usually made by a trained hand surgeon who can decide if the risks of replantation, which are not minor, are worth it,” Korn says.

If you badly cut yourself but everything’s still in one piece, apply pressure until bleeding stops—it should relatively quickly unless you’re taking blood thinners. If a cut continues to bleed after a few hours of pressure, seek medical help. Additionally, any cut that’s further than skin deep deserves a doctor’s attention. “Any time you can see exposed underlying structures, including tendon, bone, fat, or nerve bundles, the wound will need to be seen by a professional,” Korn says. Any numbness, mobility problems, or change in color “downstream” of the injury (the side away from your body) is a sign you should get it looked at. If you ignore it, you risk serious infection (in rare cases, life-threatening sepsis) and potentially loss of function or amputation.

In either situation, stopping the bleeding and keeping all your body parts—the attached ones and detached ones—clean and preserved will give you the best shot at coming out on the other side with all 10 fingers intact.

Legacy, GoHealth open third urgent care clinic

Source: The Columbian

By The Columbian

October 3, 2016

Legacy Health and GoHealth Urgent Care have opened their third Clark County center.

The Legacy-GoHealth Hazel Dell Urgent Care, 8013 N.E. Sixth Ave., opened its doors to patients Friday. The center is holding an opening celebration at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The Hazel Dell center is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The center phone number is 360-787-4151.

The center offers urgent care, laboratory services, diagnostic X-ray services, sports physicals and treatment for sports conditions and injuries, as well as work-related injuries. Centers are staffed by Legacy Medical Group providers, who can make referrals for primary care providers and specialists.

Legacy and GoHealth opened their first Clark County urgent care center in Cascade Park in August 2015. They opened a Camas location in January. They now have 18 centers in the Portland-Vancouver metro area.

For more information, visit the Legacy-GoHealth website, www.gohealthuc.com/legacy.

Hillary Clinton's Bout with Pneumonia Sheds Light on Often Tricky Diagnosis

Source: NY1 News

By Erin Billups

September 13, 2016

The revelation that Hillary Clinton has pneumonia is putting a spotlight on an illness that affects more than three million Americans each year. Health Reporter Erin Billups takes a look at pneumonia, and what a diagnosis could mean.

Hillary Clinton's wobbly entrance into her van, after abruptly leaving the September 11th commemoration ceremony, caused a firestorm of speculation Sunday.

"There’s lots of things that could cause those symptoms," says Dr. Benjamin Stein, Lead Physician at Northwell Go Health Urgent Care.

We now know Clinton is suffering from pneumonia. Her campaign says she was diagnosed Friday, is on antibiotics, and probably should have been at home resting.

Urgent Care doctor Benjamin Stein says without knowing the exact type of pneumonia Clinton has, it's hard to determine its severity.

"There are lots of different causes for pneumonia and lots of different types of pneumonia. The most common causes are either viral or bacterial, but there are fungal types and parasitic types of pneumonia," he says.

After leaving the ceremony, Clinton spent about 90 minutes at her daughter's home, later emerging with a smile and a wave for onlookers before heading to a check-up.

In a statement released late Sunday, the doctor said Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia after she was treated for a prolonged allergy-related cough, and that Clinton became "overheated and dehydrated" at Sunday's event.

"If you’re not drinking enough fluids, being dehydrated can result in fainting. Some of the antibiotics, the medication we give you can cause side effects that can result in fainting. Some antibiotics can cause diarrhea, it's also a common issue. The dehydration that's a result of losing fluids can predispose someone to faint," explains Stein.

In general, pneumonia isn't as contagious as strep throat, the flu or a cold. And depending on the patient's health, other underlying illnesses and even age, the outcomes are wide ranging.

"If untreated it can become serious and patients can die. But with treatment these days, and with a patient who doesn't have any underlying immunocompromisation patients usually do very well," says Stein.

A pneumonia diagnosis is arguably vague, underscoring the need for more information.

It seems Clinton's campaign agrees, announcing Monday it will release more details on her health soon.

Amy Schumer Got An Intense Case Of Food Poisoning On Vacation

Source: Self

By Korin Miller

September 13, 2016

The comedian came down with food poisoning during her trip to Paris and had to be hospitalized. Here's how to know if your food poisoning warrants a trip to the ER.

Amy Schumer isn't one to hold back, and her multiple Instagrams over the past day are no exception. The comedian has shared snaps from her trip to Paris with her boyfriend, Ben Hanisch: riding in a helicopter together, goofing off at Versaille, and…lying in bed with food poisoning.

“Thanks for everything, Paris! Except the food poisoning,” she captioned the post, featuring her and Hanisch looking under the weather together. She later posted a photo of herself having chicken broth “post puke fest,” followed by shots of her lying in a hospital bed. 

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, millions of people in the U.S. get sick from contaminated food each year, often because of food riddled with bacteria and viruses.

Symptoms of food poisoning typically include an upset stomach, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and dehydration, and they can range from mild to severe, the Department of Health & Human Services says.

But how do you know if your food poisoning requires medical attention or if it’s just something you can ride out? Mike Doyle, Ph.D., director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, tells SELF that it typically depends on what caused your food poisoning and how your body reacts to it. People infected with E. coli O157:H7 will often develop bloody diarrhea that can progress to kidney failure if left untreated, he says, while someone who contracts salmonellosis, an infection of the salmonella bacteria, may just have mild diarrhea that goes away with time.

However, people who contract salmonellosis can also develop more severe symptoms, like bad diarrhea, which can cause dehydration and require medical attention, Doyle says.

Dehydration is usually why most people who are hospitalized with food poisoning seek care, women’s health expert Jennifer Wider, M.D., tells SELF. “It results from a significant loss of water, fluid, and electrolytes due to diarrhea and vomiting,” she says.

Unfortunately, drinking a ton of water usually won't help, since putting anything into your stomach may cause more vomiting and diarrhea, Debra Brooks, M.D., a physician at Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care, tells SELF. She recommends drinking fluids one sip at a time, which makes it easier for your gastrointestinal system to handle it, and if possible, drinking a sports drink or tea instead of water, so you can get some electrolytes or sugar in your system.

If you have food poisoning and experience persistent diarrhea lasting for three or more days, fever over 101.5 degrees, blurry vision or slurred speech, difficulty keeping things down, dry mouth, and little to no urination, Wider says it’s time to go to the hospital. There, doctors will typically give you IV fluids with electrolytes to rehydrate your body as well as antibiotics if you have bacterial food poisoning, Wider says.

Luckily, most people who get food poisoning don't have to go to the ER, Benjamin Chapman, Ph.D., an assistant professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University, tells SELF. "The majority of folks who get sick from foodborne pathogens will recover quickly, but it can certainly lead to more long-term issues," like kidney problems, arthritis, and more, he says. That's why it's so important to seek care if you experience more severe symptoms.

Of course, the best way to avoid a trip to the hospital from food poisoning is to prevent it altogether. While you can get food poisoning from a number of foods, here's a comprehensive listof which ones are most likely to cause different types of food poisoning.

Investments, doctor shortage drive growth of LI urgent care

Source: Newsday

Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care facility coming to Bell Blvd.

Source: Times Ledger

By Mark Hallum

August 31, 2016

Come September, Bayside will be getting a new urgent care facility in its business district. The space formerly occupied by Lucille Roberts at 41-19 Bell Blvd. will be partly taken over by a Northwell Health-GoHealth center to serve Bayide.

GoHealth operates in partnership with the state’s largest health care system, formerly known as North Shore-LIJ, in order to deliver convenient options for non-emergency medical services for residents in the communities of Queens and elsewhere.

The exterior of the Bayside facility is still under construction. However, pedestrians on the boulevard can plainly see the formation of a medical center which will have a clean, modern design with sleek lines and a storefront which stands out from others on Bell.

“We are excited to open this new location in Bayside. We’ve been looking to open a center in this community for over a year,” Sarah Arora, president of operations for Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care, said.

“We strive to locate Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care centers in areas where people live their lives. We like to be next to the local pharmacy, grocery store, the train station, your favorite restaurant. This ensures that our patients don’t have to go out of their way to get the care they need and deserve. The GoHealth partnership with Northwell allows us to treat patients in the highest quality way within the four walls of our center and also get them downstream care with specialists and primary care physicians.”

By pairing up with Northwell, GoHealth patients take advantage of trusted medical professionals the system is known for as well as a shared record archive to keep practitioners informed of medical conditions diagnosed at other facilities within the network.

According to Arora, these facilities have a “best-in-class” level of patient satisfaction calculated through their net promoter score.

Arora said Northwell Health-GoHealth facilities are much like any other urgent care centers. They treat common illnesses and injuries, including allergic reactions; rashes; cuts, burns and bites; falls, sprains, strains and broken bones; colds and flus; sore throat; pink eye; infections. It also offers vaccinations, flu shots and physicals.

Arora will oversee operations of the facility, while the medical practice will be clinically overseen by Dr. Robert Korn, the medical director of Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care.

The official opening date of the facility is Sept. 16.

Seamless data exchange key to urgent care center, health system partnerships

Source: FierceHealthcare

By Katie Dvorak

August 29, 2016

As partnerships between urgent care organizations and health systems grow, so, too, does the importance of having systems that can seamlessly share data.

While the flow of information is key to ensuring that care between the two isn’t fragmented, data sharing is not yet fully advanced, as a recent HealthData Management article explores.

Health systems are looking to grow partnerships with urgent care centers in part because more patients are seeking treatment at such centers rather than making an appointment with their primary care physician because of convenience and time savings, FierceHealthcarepreviously reported.

Currently, between the care centers and health systems, there is a fair amount of integration of electronic medical records, but integration at the application programming interface level is not quite there yet, Tom Charland, founder and CEO of Merchant Medicine, a consulting and research firm based in Minnesota, says in the article. However, he adds that in the next three or so years “it’s going to be a whole new ball game.”

One organization, GoHealth Urgent Care, has more than 37 centers in New York, Oregon, and Washington. It's Portland centers use the same electronic health record system as Legacy Health, allowing for an easy partnership when it comes to patient data access.

American Family Care is the second example. That organization is testing sharing data between its urgent care centers in Alabama and Baptist Health using the EHR system.

Health information exchanges, HL7 messaging and other platforms also are aiding in the efforts.

However, barriers remain, the article notes. Those can include high integration fees paid to EHR vendors, a lack of ability for real-time communication and translation of codes.

Data exchange rises in importance for urgent care providers

Source: Health Data Management

By Linda Wilson

August 25, 2016

As the healthcare industry transitions to value-based care, urgent care companies and health systems are forging formal business partnerships and then facilitating those relationships through the exchange of electronic patient data.

The Fast Pace deal and the rise of urgent care: 7 things to know

Source: Becker's Hospital Review

By Kelly Gooch

August 25, 2016

As healthcare shifts toward the outpatient arena, urgent care centers remain popular with patients and consumers looking to receive convenient and affordable treatment for minor conditions, imaging and blood tests.

Given this trend, the urgent care industry is poised for growth. In a 2014 whitepaper from McGuireWoods and Urgent Care Association of America, one industry professional predicted the urgent care industry will see a lot of activity through 2019 and beyond since some large metropolitan areas could support two to three times the number of current urgent care providers.

This prediction is demonstrated in the recent acquisition of SCP Urgent Care, doing business as Fast Pace Urgent Care, by Revelstoke Capital Partners. The transaction closed Aug. 22.

Highlighted below are seven things to know about the transaction as well as urgent care growth.

1. One of the players in the transaction is Brentwood, Tenn.-based Fast Pace, a provider of urgent care and primary care services. Since 2013, the company has grown from seven centers in Tennessee to 36 centers in Tennessee and Kentucky. The growth came primarily through opening 26 new locations and acquiring three locations. Fast Pace is a portfolio company of Shore Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on microcap healthcare investments.

2. The other player in the transaction is private equity firm Revelstoke, which focuses on building healthcare and business services companies. Since the firm's inception in mid-2013, Revelstoke has raised more than $700 million in equity commitments across its various investing entities and has completed 23 acquisitions totaling over $1.2 billion in enterprise value, according to an announcement of the transaction.

3. Houlihan Lokey advised Fast Pace on the acquisition. The company said its healthcare group provides advice to healthcare services, managed care, seniors housing, biopharmaceutical and life sciences companies. Including Fast Pace, Houlihan Lokey has advised on four urgent care transactions.

5. Scott Becker, the publisher of Becker's Healthcare, said, "The deal is reflective of the high amount of interest in the urgent care area."

6. For instance, Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America in November acquired Urgent Care Extra's Nevada operations, which include 14 urgent care centers in Las Vegas.

In February, San Francisco-based Dignity Health announced it is teaming up with Atlanta-based GoHealth Urgent Care in a joint venture to bring consumer-focused urgent care to the Bay Area. Last August, Boston-based Partners HealthCare announced plans to open up to 12 urgent care centers in the next three years to cater to patients who need medical care, but don't need to go to an emergency room.

7. These investments are driven partly by the rise in active patients older than 50 who desire convenient care for injuries and illness, but want to be connected to a larger system where their regular physician may practice and where urgent visits can become part of their medical record, Tom Charland, CEO of consulting firm Merchant Medicine, told The Wall Street Journal.

New Castro District Urgent Care Center One of a Dozen Planned for Bay Area

Source: San Francisco Patch

By Patch Staff

August 10, 2016

The Dignity Health-GoHealth Urgent Care Castro Center is equipped to handle urgent but not life-threatening medical issues.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — An urgent care center celebrating its grand opening in San Francisco's Castro District Tuesday is the first of a dozen expected to open in the Bay Area over the next year.

The Dignity Health-GoHealth Urgent Care Castro Center at 2288 Market Street is a drop-in facility equipped to handle urgent but not life-threatening medical issues ranging from illness to sprains, cuts and broken bones, officials said Tuesday.

The facility, which will be open 365 days a year, is equipped with four exam rooms, a laboratory and x-ray equipment, and allows patients to walk in off the street or make appointments online. The center, which opened on Aug. 1 and has already had walk-in patients, is the result of a partnership between Dignity Health, which operates St. Mary's Medical Center and Saint Francisco Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, and GoHealth, an urgent care management firm with similar facilities in New York and Portland.

The two companies plan to roll out a dozen more centers in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties over the next year. Five locations are planned in San Francisco, with centers opening in Glen Park and Cole Valley in September. GoHealth and Dignity officials said the centers were part of a growing trend in health care toward urgent care facilities that can provide fast, convenient access to medical treatment at a lower price.

"This is a great alternative and it's considerably less expensive than an emergency room," GoHealth CEO Todd Latz said. "Think of it as fitting in between primary care and an emergency room."

The partnership with Dignity means that patient records will be integrated into the Dignity system and can be accessed by physicians there. However, patients outside of the Dignity system and those paying out of 
pocket are also welcome. The center is the second urgent care center to open in the Castro in the past month. Dignity and GoHealth officials said they planned to target locations in busy, vibrant neighborhoods like the Castro with lots of foot traffic and nearby retail, ensuring visibility and easy access for patients.

Richard Magary, administrator for the Castro Merchants Association, said the group was very happy to see the center opening in a former Radio Shack location.

"I think it provides a wonderful opportunity for local residents to have easy access to urgent medical care," Magary said. "And importantly to us it is a beautiful use of a storefront that had once been vacant," Magary said, noting that the site, a former Radio Shack, had been vacant for at least a year or two. "We're happy to see it occupied."