Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Practice Review: Patients Presenting with Symptoms of Odontogenic Infection

By Ashley Blachford  /  February 28, 2021
Urgent message: Odontogenic infections can pose life-threatening risk when swelling occurs in close proximity to the airway. It is essential…
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Practice Review: Patients Presenting with Symptoms of Odontogenic Infection

Adapting Urgent Care Marketing Strategies to Include Mobile and Voice Technologies

By Ashley Blachford  /  December 30, 2020
Urgent message: As consumers become more dependent on their internet-connected smartphones for health information, urgent care centers must adapt their…
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Adapting Urgent Care Marketing Strategies to Include Mobile and Voice Technologies

A Novel Method for Blinding Reviewers to Gender of Proceduralists for the Purposes of Gender Bias Research

By Ashley Blachford  /  February 9, 2021
Urgent message Gender bias, whether overt or subconscious, may be to blame for disparities in hiring practices, salary, and advancement…
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A Novel Method for Blinding Reviewers to Gender of Proceduralists for the Purposes of Gender Bias Research

A Hand Wound Caused by a Pressure Washer

By Ashley Blachford  /  February 28, 2021
Urgent message: Injuries caused by pressure washers often require debridement or, in severe cases, amputation. Immediate assessment and appropriate management,…
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A Hand Wound Caused by a Pressure Washer

A 43-Year-Old Man with a Cough, Body Aches, and Fever

By Ashley Blachford  /  February 23, 2021
The patient is a 43-year-old man who presents with a cough and a general complaint of “body aches” that began…
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A 43-Year-Old Man with a Cough, Body Aches, and Fever

Urgent Care News

More Ammo in Fighting COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

As of this writing, more than 57 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed …
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COVID-19 Cases May Be Down, but Kids Are in Danger as MIS-C Lingers

There’s been a lot of promising news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic recently; cases in most …
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As Travel Opens Up, Opportunities to Offer COVID-19 Tests Could Be Lucrative

Urgent care has had it tough during the pandemic, but the travel industry has faced …
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Chin Lacerations in Children—A Call for Caution

Urgent message: Adhesive repair for skin lacerations in pediatric patients is a viable (sometimes preferable) …
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Implementing Clinical Practice Guidelines in Adults with Hypertension: An Effective Practice Change in Urgent Care

Urgent message: Too often, patients first learn that they have hypertension secondary to an unrelated …
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Web Exclusive Articles

A Novel Method for Blinding Reviewers to Gender of Proceduralists for the Purposes of Gender Bias Research

Urgent message Gender bias, whether overt or subconscious, may be to blame for disparities in …
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When It’s More Than Just A Cough

Urgent message: Take vital signs and physical examination of the chest with the utmost importance …
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Employer COVID-19 Testing Needs are Not Fully Met; Rapid Testing is an Unprecedented Opportunity for Urgent Care

Urgent message: The critical role of rapid COVID-19 testing in keeping Americans working presents a …
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The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Making Burnout Worse for Physicians Already in Crisis

Urgent message: For several years, JUCM has reported on the national crisis of “provider burnout.” …
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The Role of Aseptic Technique During Repair of Traumatic Lacerations in the Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: The goal for urgent care clinicians tasked with treating patients presenting with traumatic …
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Clinical Articles

Odontogenic Infection, Man with x-ray of head and red area indicating issue in mouth

Practice Review: Patients Presenting with Symptoms of Odontogenic Infection

Urgent message: Odontogenic infections can pose life-threatening risk when swelling occurs in close proximity to the airway. It is essential …
Read More
Otitis Externa and Media Urgent Care Checkup

If Not Otitis Externa…Then What?

Urgent message: Complaints of ear pain in children are among the most common presentations in the urgent care setting. While …
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Vaping-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) Presenting to Urgent Care

Urgent message: Respiratory complaints due to use of e-cigarettes or vaping may be difficult to distinguish from those associated with …
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Urgent Care Provider Awareness of the Canadian Computed Tomography Head Rule: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Urgent message: As visits to urgent care after possible traumatic brain injury continue to rise, so does the importance of …
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Practice Management Articles

Adapting Urgent Care Marketing Strategies to Include Mobile and Voice Technologies

Urgent message: As consumers become more dependent on their internet-connected smartphones for health information, urgent care centers must adapt their …
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The Hazards of Independent Contractor/Employee Misclassification

Urgent message: There are serious and costly consequences for misclassifying employees as independent contractors, even if the employee requests or …
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That’s Not What Happened! How to Deal with Gaslighting in the Workplace

Urgent message: Similar to workplace bullying, sexual harassment, and toxic gossip, gaslighting behaviors result in demoralized workplace cultures, lost business …
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Is Four Times a Charm for Walmart (or, Could Walmart Be a Threat to Urgent Care)?

Urgent message: It’s important for urgent care to watch and learn from Walmart, which has engaged leading retail and strategic …
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Insights in Images Challenges

A 71-Year-Old Woman with Femur Pain After a Fall

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A 32-Year-Old Male with Thumb Pain After a Ski Fall

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A 96-Year-Old Male with Palpitations and a History of CAD

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A 60-Year-Old Woman with Hypertension, Diabetes, and Sudden Fatigue and Weakness

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A 13-Year-Old Girl with Scaling and Fissures on Her Lips

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A 7-Year-Old Girl with White Patches on Her Toenails

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JUCM CAREER CENTER

Download Past Issues

March 2021 : ‘Just a Toothache’–or Cause for
a Lifesaving Intervention?

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

CASE REPORTS

A Hand Wound Caused by a Pressure Washer

Urgent message: Injuries caused by pressure washers often require debridement or, in severe cases, amputation. Immediate …
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A Diagnosis Suspected by Mechanism of Injury: Soft tissue Infection Due to Aeromonas hydrophila and Enterobacter asburiae Following Human Wastewater Exposure

Urgent message: Knowing the mechanism of injury and presence of wound contamination is important in hand …
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Worsening, General Weakness and Immobility in an IV Drug User

Urgent message: Spinal epidural abscesses are a rare condition that can be fatal if untreated. Populations …
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Left Eye Pain in an Overall Healthy 19-Year-old Female

Urgent message: Eye pain is a common presentation to the urgent care clinic. A provider needs …
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A 69-Year-Old Female with Hypertension, Dyslipidemia, and a Constellation of Otolaryngologic Symptoms

Urgent message: Epiglottitis is classically viewed as a pediatric disease, but has become increasingly common in …
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HEALTH LAW

Are There Any Restrictions on an Urgent Care Provider Charging a No-Show or Cancellation Fee?

Urgent message: When holding a time slot that could go to another paying customer, it’s common …
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Liability of an Urgent Care Center for Third-Party Labs

Urgent message: While an urgent care center is responsible for the collection and safeguarding of clinical …
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New Lawsuits Re-examine Prescribing of PrEP in Urgent Care

Urgent message: Urgent care providers should take note of emerging class-action lawsuits when helping patients decide …
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Can Employers Mandate the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Urgent message: Based on precedent, urgent care operators and other employers can mandate the COVID-19 vaccine …
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Does the OSHA General Duty Clause Encompass Psychological or Emotional Injury?

Urgent message: Despite tort law and emerging workplace policies validating how sexual harassment, workplace bullying, and …
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CLINICAL CHALLENGES

A 96-Year-Old Male with Palpitations and a History of CAD

The patient is a 96-year-old man who is brought to your urgent care center by his daughter, with whom he …
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A 13-Year-Old Girl with Scaling and Fissures on Her Lips

The patients is a 13-year-old girl who presents to a pediatric urgent care clinic with 1 month of scaling and …
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A 71-Year-Old Woman with Femur Pain After a Fall

The patient is a 71-year-old female who presents with proximal femur pain after losing her balance and sustaining a “soft” …
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A 7-Year-Old Girl with White Patches on Her Toenails

Case A mother brought her 7-year-old daughter to the pediatric urgent care center after noticing that several of the girl’s …
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A 60-Year-Old Woman with Hypertension, Diabetes, and Sudden Fatigue and Weakness

A 60-year-old female with a history of hypertension and diabetes presents to urgent care with fatigue and weakness for 1 …
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OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE

As Travel Opens Up, Opportunities to Offer COVID-19 Tests Could Be Lucrative

Urgent care has had it tough during the pandemic, but the travel industry has faced unprecedented challenges as Americans hunkered …
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Occ Med Providers Take Note: Companies Are Pushing Workers to Get Tested Frequently

Amazon and Whole Foods employees were told this week that weekly, no-cost testing for COVID-19 is available to them—and encouraged—on …
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Occ Med Providers Take Note: Valid or Not, Lawsuits Against Employers Over COVID-19 Spread Are Inevitable

Just recently, a woman in Illinois filed what is thought to be the first COVID-19-related wrongful death suit against an …
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Can Urgent Care Be the Solution to Reduce COVID-19 Spread in High-Risk Environments?

The risks of heading off to work on site during the COVID-19 pandemic vary greatly according to the nature of …
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Not Up to Speed on New Workplace Protections? Then Neither Are Your Occ Med Clients!

Virginia just joined a short list of states that are enacting legislation to help protect workers from exposure to COVID-19 …
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Revenue Cycle Management

Credentialing and Contracting: What to Expect When Expanding

For those trying to grow their urgent care business, conversations around payer contracting and credentialing (CC) can often be overwhelming …
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Last Minute Coding Changes for 2021

December brought us some last-minute coding changes. In some cases, this caused a small claim delay as clearinghouses and payers …
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FAQ: New E/M Guidelines

It’s 2021, and the new E/M guidelines for office visit codes are here. Hopefully, providers will feel some relief in …
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What’s New for RCM? Updates on Coding for COVID-19 Testing

As lab testing for COVID-19 continues to evolve, new products—and new CPT codes—continue to emerge. The latest tests combine COVID-19 …
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Looking Forward to 2021

2020 has been a rough year for all of us, and everybody is eagerly awaiting 2021. One thing for urgent …
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DEVELOPING DATA

Is Specialization the Future of Urgent Care?

Urgent care has historically been viewed as a setting where patients could present with anything short of life- or limb-threatening …
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Children Are Visiting Urgent Care in Growing Numbers—Is That Reflected in Your Practice?

JUCM has devoted a lot more space to covering aspects of providing urgent care for children. In this very issue …
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Until the COVID-19 Vaccine Is Widely Distributed, Keep Testing—and Reporting

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated their running count of data related to COVID-19 on December 7, …
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2020 Be Remembered for—Beyond the Obvious?

If you surveyed Google data for 2020, you’d probably find that some of the most oft-used terms of the year …
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Turning Back the Tide of Antibiotic Resistance, One (Unfilled) Prescription at a Time

According to JUCM’s own chart research, antibiotics are the most-prescribed class of medications in urgent care. This is not surprising, …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2021

‘Seat Belt’ Signs Post MVAPain Control in Corneal AbrasionsAnalgesia with Reduction of Shoulder DislocationCan Early PT Help with Sciatica?How Vaping …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – February 2021

Septic Knee Joints in AdultsRecurrent CellulitisAnalgesics and Risk for Fracture NonunionAssessing for MACE with and without a TroponinIV Fluids in …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – 01 2021

Language Barriers and Treating ChildrenIbuprofen and Pediatric with Ankle SprainsFacial Palsy and LeukemiaFentanyl and Midazolam for Younger PatientsAre Hypotonic Fluids …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – December 2020

Projecting Outcomes in mTBIConcussion Recovery in AthletesA New Tool in Assessing Adolescent ConcussionHead Injury in Patients Taking WarfarinInfants with Scalp …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care November 2020

Antibiotics (or Not?) for Dog BitesScaring the Quest for Antibiotics Out of PatientsPost-Op Antibiotics in Complex AppendicitisHow Long Should Sepsis …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Why Don’t You Take A Break?

I took up smoking for about 6 months in college, but not for the reasons you’d guess. This was during …
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Don’t Forget about the Road Behind

If you’re reading this, you’ve survived 2020. Congratulations!—although it probably doesn’t feel like there’s much success to revel in at …
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Opportunity is Knocking. Do you hear it?

It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change. – Charles …
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Stories Speak Louder Than Statistics

After the vivid video of the wrongful death of George Floyd went viral in late May, millions of people of …
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The Time for Urgent Care Clinicians to Embrace Bedside Ultrasound is Here

Ultrasound captured me from the start. It happened during a night shift on my emergency medicine clerkship at Hurley Hospital …
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