Urgent Care News

Private Equity Courting Walgreens For Acquisition

Earlier this week, several media outlets reported that Walgreens is in negotiation discussions for a …
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New HPV Strategy Includes Self-Collection Screening Tests 

A new draft recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) suggests that testing …
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AI Tool Correctly Detects Epileptic Syndrome in Infants By Watching Videos

An artificial intelligence (AI) model accurately detected infantile epileptic spasm syndrome through the assessment of …
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Amazon Adds Hinge Health to its Digital Care Offerings

Amazon has added digital musculoskeletal care company Hinge Health to its care platform. According to …
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Substantial Update to First Aid Guidelines Reflects New Literature

New first aid guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Red Cross …
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Original Research Articles

Systematic Rapid Review: Efficacy of Hematoma Blocks for Pediatric Forearm Fractures

Shomel Gauznabi, MBChB, FRNZCGP, FRACGP, FRNZCUC, MD; Ivan Koay, MBChB, MRCS, FRNZCUC, MD Urgent Message: …
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Development of a Positive Urinalysis Criteria Using a Machine Learning Approach

Urgent Message: There are no consensus definitions for what defines a “positive” urinalysis in the …
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Development and Implementation of a Headache and Migraine Pathway in Pediatric Urgent Care: A Quality Improvement Initiative

Urgent Message: There are an estimated 250,000 visits annually associated with pediatric headaches in the …
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Fast Track Improves Patient Flow and Wait Times in the Pediatric Urgent Care: A Quality Improvement Project

Urgent Message: Fast trackmodels aim to improve patient throughput metrics for low-acuity patients. In this …
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Clinical Articles

Diverticulitis Assessment in urgent Care

Urgent Care Assessment of Patients with Possible Diverticulitis

Urgent Message: Diverticulitis is a prevalent condition characterized by localized inflammation most commonly of the sigmoid colon. It is often …
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Dyspnea in the Urgent Care

Dyspnea in the Urgent Care: Differentiating Benign From ‘Can’t Miss’

Urgent Message: Patients commonly present with respiratory symptoms in the urgent care setting and not infrequently complain of some degree …
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Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma Feature Image

A Review of Genital Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma Infections for the Urgent Care Clinician

Urgent Message: Mycoplasma species, most notably Mycoplasma genitalium are an increasingly recognized etiology of persistent urethral discomfort and non-gonococcal urethritis …
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Pelvic Pain

How Useful Is Ultrasound in Acute Female Pelvic Pain?

Andrew Alaya, MD, MSc Urgent Message: For time-sensitive diagnoses related to acute pelvic pain, ultrasound is generally the recommended initial …
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Practice Management Articles

Rural Urgent Care Growth

Rural Urgent Care Growth Continues, But Challenges Remain

Urgent Message: Rural urgent care is the industry’s fastest growing segment, influenced by rural primary care shortages, hospital closures and …
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Requests for Medical Records by Subpoena

How Should an Urgent Care Handle Requests for Medical Records by Subpoena?

Urgent Message: Urgent care centers need documented, consistent, and reportable processes for receiving, tracking, responding to, and collecting payment on …
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ASD Services

ASD Services Fit With Existing UC Business Models

Urgent Message: Rapid growth in the autism spectrum disorder services (ASD) sector may present an expansion opportunity for urgent care …
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Guardrails for Nonsufficient Funds and Credit Card on File Fees

Guardrails for Nonsufficient Funds and Credit Card on File Fees

Urgent Message: Urgent care operators must navigate emerging federal, state, and payer regulations when developing financial policies that require payment …
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CASE REPORTS

Abdominal Pseudohernia and Urinary Retention Due to Spinal Nerve Root Compression From Disc Herniation: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Abdominal pseudohernia is a rare diagnosis with variable presentation. Urgent care clinicians who are …
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Urinary Retention Caused by a Urethral Stone Diagnosed with Point-of-Care Ultrasound: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Urethral obstruction can occur due to impacted urinary calculi. This etiology should be considered …
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Puffy Hand Syndrome: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Incorporating questions regarding the use of intravenous drugs may help ensure the diagnosis of …
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Could This Young Patient Really Have a STEMI? A Case Report of a Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection

Urgent Message: It is important to quickly obtain an electrocardiogram in patients presenting with chest pain …
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Recognition and Management of Achenbach Syndrome (Paroxysmal Finger Hematoma)

Urgent Message: By understanding the symptoms of paroxysmal finger hematoma, clinicians can reduce patient anxiety and …
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HEALTH LAW

Changing an Employee from Full-Time to Part-Time Status

Urgent message: Whether due to reduced staffing needs or employee preference, some employees in urgent care …
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Are Urgent Care Providers Liable if They Don’t Test Patients for COVID?

Click Here to download the PDF. Urgent message: As the severity of newer strains of SARS-CoV-2 …
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Who Can Take X-Rays in an Urgent Care Center?

Urgent message: Given that x-ray is a differentiating feature of “urgent care” and the current challenges …
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What Qualifies Someone to Take X-Rays in the Urgent Care Center? It All Depends on Where You’re Located

X-rays are high on the list of services patients expect urgent care centers to provide when …
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Avoiding Defamation Lawsuits in Urgent Care

Urgent message: People are unlikely to trust their healthcare to a provider with a sullied reputation, …
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CLINICAL CHALLENGES

55-Year-Old With Wrist Pain

A 55-year-old woman presents to urgent care complaining of pain when she moves her right wrist. She reports the pain …
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35-Year-Old With ESRD

A 35-year-old male with a history of end-stage-renal-disease (ESRD) presents to urgent care complaining of back pain. The patient missed …
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15-Year-Old With Fever

A 15-year-old girl presents to urgent care with complaints of fever, arthralgia, abdominal pain, and a widespread rash that developed …
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30-Year-Old With Back Pain

A 30-year-old woman presents to urgent care with pain in her lower back and pelvis. She denies any injury or …
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59-Year-Old With History Of Hypertension

A 59-year-old male with a past medical history of hypertension presents with dyspnea and pleuritic chest pain in urgent care, …
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OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE

Does Concentra’s New Acquisition Foreshadow a New Era for UC and Occ Med?

On the surface, it seems like the kind of event that has become commonplace in urgent care: A large, national …
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Update: The COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Many Businesses Is Off—Again

Just when you thought you had clarity on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s mandate to vaccinate workers at businesses …
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That Vaccine Mandate for Private Businesses That Was Called Off? It’s on Again—and the Clock Is Ticking

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s plan to require employers with 100 or more workers to institute a COVID-19 vaccine …
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Your Occ Med Clients Need Your Support with the New COVID-19 ETS—Immediately

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration just issued an Emergency Temporary Standard intended to protect workers from getting infected with …
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More People Are Trudging Off to Work on Site. Do You Know Who’s at Greatest Risk for COVID-19?

While some employers are content to maintain remote or hybrid work situations for their workers, either because of strong stances …
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Revenue Cycle Management

How ‘Data Reviewed’ Works When Coding E/M

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Three elements determine the level for evaluation and management coding (E/M). “Amount and/or …
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Look Ahead For RCM Success

We are deep into the fourth quarter of 2024, and you are probably preparing for the holidays and wrapping up …
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ICD-10-CM: What’s New for 2025

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC We are heading into fall, and fall starts with updates to the ICD-10-CM …
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When An Urgent Care Contracts as Primary Care

Over the past 2 decades, urgent care has been on the forefront of consumerism. Increasingly, healthcare consumers are realizing how …
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What Did We Learn From the Change Healthcare Outage?

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Nearly all of us in the healthcare ecosystem were impacted by the cyberattack on …
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DEVELOPING DATA

Laceration Repairs Decline in Urgent Care

The percentage of urgent care visits involving a laceration procedure increased slightly from 0.75% in 2023 to 0.76% year-to-date in …
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Size and Ownership of U.S. Urgent Care Centers

As of September, 2024, there are a total of 14,245 urgent care centers in the United States, according to National …
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Few Misused Rx Drugs Prescribed in Urgent Care

According to the United States Department of Justice, the most common prescription drugs that are misused fall into 1 of …
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NPS Predicts Success in UC

The net promoter score (NPS) is a customer experience metric devised by business researcher Fred Reichheld, MBA, which measures how …
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Patient Arrival Times In Urgent Care

The table above shows the percentage of patients within an average day who arrived during each hour of operations, based …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts in Urgent Care – December 2024

ECG Interpretation: Humans Vs Machines Take Home Point: In this study, cardiologists and emergency physicians (EP) had greater accuracy for …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – November 2024

Sophistication of ECG for Detection of Acute Coronary Syndromes Take Home Point: Cardiac electrical biomarker (CEB), a finding detectable on …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – October 2024

Public Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence Use in Healthcare Take Home Point: Patient and healthcare workers surveyed were generally accepting of …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – September 2024

Can Large Language Models Help in Assessing Acuity of Patients Presenting to ED? Take Home Point: Integration of large language …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – July/August 2024

Use of NEXUS II Clinical Decision Tool for Blunt Head Injuries in Elderly Patients Take Home Point: Older patients with …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

‘Health Data Obsessive Disorder’—A Modern Epidemic

“Low blood sugar” was his chief complaint, but Thomas was in my urgent care (UC) mostly because he was feeling …
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‘As Little as Necessary…’– A Mantra for Urgent Care

“Do as little as necessary, not as much as possible.” This is the mantra I recite throughout every urgent care …
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Our Success in Urgent Care is Defined by How We Play Our ‘Greatest Hits’

Recently one evening, I meandered into a bar on iconic 6th Street in Austin, Texas— America’s epicenter for live music …
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‘What Happens If We Do Nothing?’ Is Still the Right Question

Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FACEP, FCUCM “It only hurts right here,” Rich told me, pointing to a tender spot on …
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Broader Issues Surround ‘Work Note Seeking’

Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FCUCM, FACEP Who among us has worked a single urgent care (UC) shift without at least …
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