Urgent Care News

Shocking Number of Rural Hospitals At Risk of Imminent Closure

Nearly 800 rural hospitals across the United States are struggling financially with as many as …
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Two States Have Now Adopted ‘Physician Associate’ Title

Maine this month enacted legislation to change the professional title typically known as “physician assistant” …
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Vaccinate Mom During Pregnancy To Reduce The Risk Of Infant Influenza

A retrospective cohort study of 245,498 infants born within the Kaiser Permanente system in Northern …
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New Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis For HIV Offers Twice-Yearly Dosing Regimen

The Food and Drug Administration last week approved lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, …
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Deadly Falls For Older Adults Increase Significantly 

In 2023, the unintentional-fall death rate for U.S. adults aged 65 years and older was …
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Original Research Articles

Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Citation: Hunt E, Greger M, Shipley N. Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality …
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Brief Report: A Pilot Quality and Feasibility Project Focusing on Clinician Use of an Order Set for Acute Asthma Care in Pediatric Urgent Care Centers

Urgent Message: There are limited data on implementation and use of clinical decision support tools …
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Comparing Outcomes for Outpatients Treated With Cephalexin for Uncomplicated Cystitis: Is QID Dosing Necessary?

Urgent Message: Patients commonly seek unscheduled care for urinary tract infections (UTIs). Cephalexin is among …
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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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Clinical Articles

Postpartum Shortness of Breath

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Shortness of Breath

Urgent Message: Shortness of breath presentations for postpartum patients in urgent care should prompt consideration of venous thromboembolism or peripartum …
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Nerve Block for Headache

Blocking the Pain: Nerve Block in the Treatment of Headache in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: Although greater occipital nerve block has demonstrated positive effectiveness and few risks as a treatment for acute headache, …
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Herpes Testing in Urgent Care

Herpes Simplex Virus Infections: An Overview of Testing for the Urgent Care Clinician

Urgent Message: Polymerase chain reaction testing is recommended for patients with lesions that could represent herpes simplex virus infection. It …
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Postpartum Vaginal Bleeding and Discharge

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Vaginal Bleeding and Discharge

Urgent Message: Postpartum vaginal bleeding and discharge have a broad range of etiologies ranging from benign and self-limited to life-threatening …
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Practice Management Articles

Mental Health Urgent Care

Mental Health Urgent Care: Bridging the Gap in Crisis Care

Urgent Message: Meridian Health’s Mental Health Urgent Care service addresses the gap between outpatient therapy and hospitalization. As a way …
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Private Equity Investment In Urgent Care

Private Equity Investment In Urgent Care, By Number Of Centers, 2025

Fifteen years after the initial private equity platform investments in NextCare, FastMed, and MD Now, the number of urgent care …
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2025 Urgent Care's Top 100

2025 Urgent Care’s Top 100 – By Number of Locations

The following table summarizes the 100 largest urgent care operators by number of locations as of April 1, 2025, based …
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AI Trends in Urgent Care

Two AI Trends That Will Change Urgent Care

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Urgent Message: While there are seemingly countless applications for artificial intelligence in healthcare, ambient scribes …
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Insights in Images Challenges

CASE REPORTS

Ruptured Baker Cyst is an Uncommon Complication of a Common Diagnosis: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Rupture of a Baker cyst is a rare complication and may manifest with the …
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Dyspnea in an Asthmatic Patient Following an Influenza Infection: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While patients with asthma will frequently experience exacerbations following viral respiratory infections, the urgent …
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Insidious Unilateral Axillary Swelling in a Patient with Untreated HIV: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Lymphadenopathy in patients living with HIV is most commonly related to HIV infection, but …
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Recurrent Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in a Patient With Repeated Exposure to Metronidazole: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Metronidazole, even during short courses of therapy, can result in disabling neuropsychiatric symptoms. It …
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Hot Water Irrigation to Relieve Discomfort After Wasp and Bee Envenomation: A Case Series

Urgent Message: Hot water irrigation for 2 minutes provided immediate and sustained relief of pain 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?

Download the PDF: Are Urgent Care Providers Liable if They Don’t Test Patients for COVID? Urgent …
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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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JUCM CAREER CENTER

Download Past Issues

Ruptured Baker Cyst

July/August 2025: The Crescent Sign: Diagnosing a Ruptured Baker Cyst

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

CLINICAL CHALLENGES

42-Year-Old With Facial Injury

A 42-year-old man presents to urgent care on a Sunday afternoon. He explains that he was playing a game of …
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56-Year-Old With Episodes of Chest Pain

A 56-year-old female with no past medical history presents to urgent care with 2 episodes of chest pain that woke …
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3-Week-Old With Scaly Skin Rash

A 3-week-old girl presents to urgent care with widespread scaly skin. On physical examination, her vital signs are normal. She …
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13-Year-Old With Inversion Injury

A 13-year-old boy presents to urgent care after “rolling” his left foot. He explains that he tripped on a cement …
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33-Year-Old With Pleuritic Chest Pain

A 33-year-old female presents to urgent care with pleuritic chest pain that is gradual in onset over the preceding several …
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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

Credentialing: The Gatekeeper of Access and Reimbursement

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC In the healthcare ecosystem, credentialing is more than a bureaucratic hurdle—it’s the linchpin …
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Navigating Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making: A Critical Guide for Urgent Care

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Urgent care operators face increasing challenges from payer reviews—a situation exacerbated by ongoing …
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Effective Strategies Minimize Claim Denials in Urgent Care

Urgent care centers serve a crucial function in providing prompt and accessible healthcare, but they encounter unique challenges in managing …
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Refresher: Guidelines for E/M Coding

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Hard to believe that the new evaluation and management (E/M) guidelines have been …
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What’s New in Telemedicine for 2025?

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC The American Medical Association (AMA) added a Telemedicine Services category to the Evaluation …
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DEVELOPING DATA

Northeast Leads in Lyme-Related Diagnoses in Urgent Care

In the United States, 8 common species of ticks exist in different geographies that present risk of transmitting more than …
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Patient Credit Card on File Increases Payments by 20%

Just as hotels require a credit card to cover any “incidentals,” urgent care is increasingly pre-authorizing patient credit cards at …
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Diagnostic Lab Test Utilization in Urgent Care

Urgent care has long been defined for its model of “test and treat” for minor, non-chronic health conditions. Patients presenting …
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Does Urgent Care Require 7-Day Operations?

While patients and payers may expect urgent care to be available 7-days a week, approximately 20% of urgent care centers …
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Retail Clinic Rooftops Retreat From 2023 Peak

 Between May, 20231 and December, 2024, the number of retail-host clinics in the United States fell 21.7% from 1,750 to 1,370, …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts in Urgent Care – July/August 2025

AI Performs Well in Virtual Urgent Care Visits Take Home Point: This study indicates that an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2025

Can Doctors Predict Patient Outcome from a First Impression? Take Home Point: In this systematic review, the first impressions of …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – May 2025

Which Topical Agent is the Best Choice for Epistaxis? Take Home Point: This study found that oxymetazoline was most effective …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – April 2025

Evaluating Interventions for Improving Antibiotic Stewardship in Urgent Care Take Home Point: An antibiotic stewardship intervention was associated with reduced …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2025

Developing Procedural Mastery With Slit Lamp Use Take Home Point: Simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) intervention improved emergency physicians’ confidence in …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Join Me and Contribute to JUCM

It is an absolute honor and pleasure to serve as the new Editor In Chief of The Journal of Urgent …
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The Quality of Urgent Care Depends on our Commitment to HOLA Expertise

At least once a month, a friend or family member will text me—often for the first time in years—to share …
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Managing Health Data Obsessive Disorder Presentation in Urgent Care

In a prior editorial, I described the case of Thomas, a young man among the “worried-well,” who presented to urgent …
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‘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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