Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Urgent Care News

Apparently, It Really Does Need to Be Said: It’s Not OK to Post Patient Information Online

It’s unlikely anyone working in your urgent care center would post confidential patient information online, …
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Opportunities for New Patients Abound as Summer Camp and Travel Season Approaches

As kids count the days until schools get out for the summer, parents may be …
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New Data Paint a Grim Picture in the Fight Against STI’s. Is Urgent Care Prepared?

Incidence of multiple sexually transmitted infections has been growing for several years, according to just-released …
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Downtime

It’s a weird time right now, isn’t it? On one hand, visit volumes seem to …
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A Quality Improvement Project to Improve Management of Urinary Tract Infections in a System of Pediatric Urgent Care Centers

Click Here to download the article PDF Urgent message: Urinary tract infection is a common …
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Web Exclusive Articles

A New 4-Year-Old Patient with Fever and Sore Throat After a COVID Exposure

Bradley L. Laymon, PA-C, CPC, CEMC PRESENTATION A mother brings in her 4-year-old, who has …
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Code Case Files: An Established Adult Male Patient with 2 Days of COVID-Like Symptoms

Bradley L. Laymon, PA-C, CPC, CEMC PRESENTATION A 47-year-old established male patient presented after 2 …
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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 …
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Repairing Parallel Lacerations in the Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: Parallel lacerations or those that simply occur in close proximity pose a unique …
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Getting the Most Out of Your Urgent Care Google Ads Budget in 2022

Urgent message: As urgent care volume has dropped from pandemic highs, the average cost per …
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Clinical Articles

Six Tips to Bulletproof Your Chart

Six Tips to Bulletproof Your Chart: Lessons from the Exam Room and the Court Room

Click Here to download the article PDF Urgent message: In the event that you are taken to court over care …
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Urgent Care Back Pain Documentation

Back Pain, an Urgent Care Visit—and a Devastating Outcome

Click Here to download the PDF Urgent message: By the time an adverse outcome occurs in the urgent care center, …
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How Useful Is Ultrasound in Abnormal Uterine Bleeding?

Urgent message: Ultrasound can provide essential data in the evaluation and urgent care of abnormal uterine bleeding, by facilitating a …
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Human Trafficking in the Urgent Care

Human Trafficking in the Urgent Care Setting: Recognizing and Referring Vulnerable Patients

Urgent message: As it is common for human trafficking victims to present to urgent care, providers should be able to …
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Practice Management Articles

“Big Retail” Pivots Are a Retreat from “On Demand” Care

Click Here to download the article PDF Urgent message: Food, drug, and mass retailers continue to explore the healthcare space …
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Urgent Care’s Top 100—by Number of Locations

Click Here to download the article PDF If urgent care had a family tree, it would show an ancestry rich …
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The X-Waiver Is No More: What This Means for Urgent Care

Click Here to download the PDF. Urgent message: In December 2022, Congress passed the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act (W-Waiver), which would …
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Tightening the Belt: Rethinking Costs and Efficiency in Urgent Care

Urgent message: Urgent care operators must be mindful of costs and labor efficiency to navigate the challenges of rising and …
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Insights in Images Challenges

JUCM CAREER CENTER

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June 2023: Once in Court, Your Defense Is Only as Good as Your Documentation

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

CASE REPORTS

More than a Simple Headache: Using the SNNOOP10 Criteria to Screen for Life-Threatening Headache Presentations

Click Here to download the article PDF Urgent message: Headache is most often a benign complaint …
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No Butts About it: Approaching Anorectal Abscesses in the Urgent Care Center

Click Here to Download the PDF Urgent message: Given the high rate of systemic involvement in …
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Point of Care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Ruptured Ectopic Pregnancy in an Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Though use of point-of-care ultrasound in the evaluation of first trimester pregnancy complaints is …
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An Itchy Back with New Moles: A Case Report of Occult Malignancy

Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FCUCM, FACEP Key words: paraneoplastic syndrome, gastric cancer, seborrheic keratosis, case report …
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Atypical Chest Pain Reveals Rare T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma: A Case Report

Urgent message: Not all patients presenting to urgent care with chest pain require immediate transfer to …
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HEALTH LAW

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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Can PAs and NPs Unionize in Urgent Care Settings?

Urgent message: Urgent care’s workforce has changed from primarily emergency physicians to physician assistants and nurse …
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CLINICAL CHALLENGES

A 30-Year-Old Male with Chest and Leg Pain—and a History of Polysubstance Use

Click Here to download the PDF A 30-year-old male with history of polysubstance use presents after a motor vehicle collision …
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A 59-Year-Old with a Painful Finger Skin Lesion

Click Here to download the article PDF A 59-year-old woman presents with a painful skin lesion near her fingernail which …
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A 41-Year-Old with Knee Pain After Playing Basketball

Click Here to download the article PDF A 41-year-old male presents with knee pain after playing basketball in his driveway …
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A 69-Year-Old Male with Left-Sided Chest Pain and Dyspnea for 3 Days

Click Here to download the PDF. Figure 1: Initial ECG (Case presented by Benjamin Cooper, MD, MEd, FACEP, Department of …
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A 46-Year-Old with Evolving Sores on Her Hand and Arm

Click Here to download the PDF. A 46-year-old female presents with an evolving eruption that developed on her right hand …
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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

De Novo vs Acquisition: What’s the Best Pathway for Urgent Care Growth?

Click Here to download the article PDF Urgent message: When considering growth in urgent care, there are both advantages and …
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End of the Public Health Emergency: What’s Next?

Click Here to the download PDF. With expiration of the national Public Health Emergency (PHE) as of May 11, the …
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Identifying (and Resolving) Common Billing Pitfalls

Denials and rejections are inevitable in medical billing and can have drastic repercussions on the overall profit of an urgent …
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Are You Chasing Profitable Growth, or Just Growth?

Heather Real With today’s urgent care operators challenged with increasing expenses and stagnant reimbursements, many thoughtful entrepreneurs turn to ancillary …
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Tips for Payer Reviews

Monte Sandler Insurance plans are scrutinizing claims more than ever before. Common questions from our clients are: What does this …
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DEVELOPING DATA

That Notion That Urgent Care Centers Help Volume in the ED? It’s True

One of the key “selling” points of urgent care has always been that if patients who don’t have limb- or …
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The 10-Year Trend on UC Claim Lines Is Strong—in the City and in the Country

Click Here to download the PDF. Believe it or not, just a decade ago urgent care accounted for barely 6% …
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Despite Challenges, Urgent Care Acuity Remains High

There’s been a bit of discussion in the urgent care industry (including in JUCM articles of late) concerning a perceived …
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Healthcare Visits by Victims of Human Trafficking Are Limited, but Often Include Urgent Care

As noted in this month’s cover article (Human Trafficking in the Urgent Care Setting: Recognizing and Referring Vulnerable Patients), isolation …
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COVID-19 Has Had a Strong Impact on Pediatric Presentations—Well Beyond the Virus Itself

The effects of SARS-CoV-2 itself on various populations in the United States and internationally have been well-documented. Likewise, an ever-growing …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2023

Click Here to download the article PDF Ivan Koay MBChB, MRCS, FRNZCUC, MD Employing Virtual Reality with Anxious Children Assessing …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – May 2023

Click Here to download the PDF Telltale Signs of Testicular Torsion Preventing RSV in Young Patients Lactational Mastitis Cephalexin in Cellulitis …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – April 2023

Responsible Antibiotic Use in SSTIs Assessing for and Managing Head Lice Infestation Safe Discharge of Chest Pain Patients Digital Rectal …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2023

Accuracy of Dipsticks in Diagnosing Infant UTIs Vestibular Suppressants and Vertigo Management of Sudden-Onset Headaches: New Questions Hemorrhage in Elderly …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – February 2023

Quinolone Eardrops and the Achilles Tendon Antibiotics and Sepsis in Neonates What Temperature Is Too High in Infants? Patient Literacy …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

It’s Time to Think Differently about Follow-up

Click Here to download the PDF In the macro and “dot phrase” era, there are many refrains that appear in …
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Conquering the Fear of Penicillin Allergy: The Boogeyman of Urgent Care

I had time to see one more patient as my shift was winding down. “Wound check. That should be a …
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Which ED Referrals Are Appropriate? The Problem of Perspective

Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FCUCM, FACEP I didn’t want to send her to the ER, but what else could I …
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The Value of Repeat Vital Signs

Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FCUCM, FACEP I’m just going say it: we should repeat vital signs more often in urgent …
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The Value of Vitals – Part I

Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FCUCM, FACEP Recently, a PA I supervise called me about a young woman who came in …
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