Righttime Medical Care CEO Presents Findings of Imaging Related to Brain Injuries at National Urgent Care Association Conference

ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert G. Graw, Jr., M.D., chief executive officer and medical director of Maryland-based urgent care company Righttime Medical Care and its concussion management program, HeadFirst Sports Injury and Concussion Care, presented a report of his findings, Necessity for Patient Transfer to Use Emergency Room from Urgent Care Centers Following Traumatic Brain Injury, at the Urgent Care Association of America annual meeting.

Addressing an audience of health care professionals, specialists and administrators, Dr. Graw presented compelling evidence from examining three years of information from patient visits at Righttime's 11 HeadFirst clinics, which are a nationally-recognized community model of concussion evaluation and management.

The study, co-authored by Anthony P. Doran, Psy.D., Marc Weber, M.D., Stanford Coleman, M.D., all of Righttime and HeadFirst, and Kevin Crutchfield, M.D., of Lifebridge Health's Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute, each of whom specializes in urgent care, neurology, emergency, pediatrics, or neuropsychology, followed the results of 16,470 patients evaluated at Righttime's HeadFirst concussion clinics over a consecutive three-year period. Only 5.8 percent of HeadFirst's patients (957) were transferred to an emergency department, the majority of whom were due to a vulnerable age, while a smaller population of these patients were due to concurrent anti-coagulant therapy. Only six total patients of this group ultimately evidenced positive results on a subsequent CT scan, none of whom were previously determined to have had an intracranial event.

Righttime's trained clinicians evaluated patients with suspected brain injuries via the patient's medical history, neurological and physical exam, sub-cortical evaluation (examination of ocular, nerve and balance function) and neurocognitive testing. This gamut of tests assists the clinician in making an appropriate diagnosis while assessing the need for referral to a higher level of care when accompanied by more serious associated injury, such as skull fractures and intracranial hematomas.

The results of the Righttime/HeadFirst patient outcomes show that a thorough clinical assessment in an outpatient urgent care facility can accurately and reliably predict the need in the few patients requiring radiological imaging following a head injury and symptoms compatible with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Since emergency department visits for suspected concussions often include CT scans and unnecessary radiation exposure, patient evaluations completed in the urgent care setting, instead of at an emergency department, reduce both costs for patients and insurance companies as well as a patient's exposure to potentially harmful radiation.

About Righttime Medical Care and HeadFirst Sports Injury and Concussion Care

Righttime Medical Care simplifies access to trustworthy medical care at its 15 urgent care locations in Maryland. Righttime holds the Certified Urgent Care designation, which distinguishes it as among the top urgent care centers nationwide. Open from 365 days a year, Righttime welcomes patients of all ages to walk-in or make a same-day appointment online at myRighttime.com or via its call center at 888-808-6483. As a service of Righttime Medical Care, HeadFirst Sports Injury and Concussion Care is a community concussion clinic for the diagnosis, management and treatment of mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (mTBI), helping patients of all ages make a safe return to work, school and play. For more information, visit myRighttime.com and myHeadFirst.com.

Contact: Ann-Marie Sedor, [email protected], 443-332-4260 x8130

SOURCE Righttime Medical Care

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http://myRighttime.com