Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Is PrEP Appropriate for Urgent Care?

By bnapolitano  /  December 1, 2018
Urgent message: Ever since HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was approved by the FDA in 2012, urgent care centers have been…
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Is PrEP Appropriate for Urgent Care?

How to Deal with a Liar

By bnapolitano  /  November 27, 2018
Urgent message: It’s human nature that some of the patients, employees, and vendors urgent care providers and operators deal with…
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How to Deal with a Liar

A Pregnant Mother Presenting to Urgent Care with Chickenpox

By bnapolitano  /  December 1, 2018
Urgent message: Failure to correctly diagnose and provide immediate treatment for varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection in pregnant patients can…
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A Pregnant Mother Presenting to Urgent Care with Chickenpox

Treating Patients Infected with Influenza Virus in the Urgent Care Setting

By bnapolitano  /  December 1, 2018
Urgent message: As patients start to feel the effects of the 2018–2019 influenza season, urgent care centers can expect to…
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Treating Patients Infected with Influenza Virus in the Urgent Care Setting

A 42-Year-Old Woman with Sudden Hip Pain

By bnapolitano  /  November 20, 2018
The patient is a 48-year-old woman who has had hip pain since joining her two sons and husband in a…
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A 42-Year-Old Woman with Sudden Hip Pain

Urgent Care News

Don’t Forget the Human Touch (Literally)

Providers have very little time with patients (many of whom they’ve never met before, in …
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More on Lies Common in the Healthcare Setting

Just weeks ago, we brought you an exclusive article on How to Deal with a …
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Think Twice Before Dismissing Even the Unlikeliest Complaints

The odds are that the most outrageous concerns patients present with can be easily explained …
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Better Transportation Options Could Bring More Patients to Your Front Door

Ride-sharing pioneer Uber is putting more resources into serving as a healthcare transport provider, recognizing …
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Are Requests for Emergency Contraception a Red Flag for Domestic Abuse?

Women who have been victims of domestic violence or abuse are more than twice as …
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Web Exclusive Articles

How to Deal with a Liar

Urgent message: It’s human nature that some of the patients, employees, and vendors urgent care …
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Avoid Wasting Your Employee’s Time

Urgent message: A manager’s words are important to employees, which is why sensitivity is required …
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Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in Urgent Care

Urgent message: Once a rarity in the urgent care setting, point-of-care ultrasound imaging capabilities are …
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Does Your Urgent Care Need a Chaperone Policy?

Urgent message: In today’s world of flying accusations of personal misconduct, having a clearly defined …
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Developing an Emergency Preparedness Plan for Urgent Care

Urgent Message: In order for urgent care to meet the on-demand healthcare needs of the …
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Clinical Articles

Treating Patients Infected with Influenza Virus in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: As patients start to feel the effects of the 2018–2019 influenza season, urgent care centers can expect to …
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An Urgent Care Approach to Influenza—Before Onset

Urgent message: The urgent care clinician must have a thorough understanding of different influenza types and strains, disease course, and …
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Syphilis in the Urgent Care Center

Urgent message: Seeking information beyond the stated history  can prompt  important information that informs the true diagnosis. This is especially …
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Employing the Parental Papoose Technique in Treating Young Children

Urgent message: Children presenting to the urgent care center are often in a state of distress and agitation—to the extent …
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Practice Management Articles

Is PrEP Appropriate for Urgent Care?

Urgent message: Ever since HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was approved by the FDA in 2012, urgent care centers have been …
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Becoming the Employer of Choice for the Emerging Urgent Care Workforce

Urgent message: A tight labor market combined with stagnant real wage growth and shifting worker expectations has placed the onus …
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How Urgent Care is the Antidote to Traditional Doctors’ Offices

Urgent message: Changing consumer expectations have led experts to question the future viability of “traditional” doctors’ offices, but urgent care …
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Building Ethical Organizations and Teams

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice Management Editor of The …
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Insights in Images Challenges

A 73-Year-Old Woman With A 12-Day History Of Palpitations

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A 9-Year-Old Girl Who Choked On A Chicken Nugget

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A 50-Year-Old Farmer With Flu-Like Symptoms

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An 11-Year-Old Boy with Groin Pain After Playing Soccer

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A 48-Year-Old Female Who ‘Rolled’ Her Ankle

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A 58-Year-Old Female With A New Infusion Port And Shoulder Pain

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JUCM CAREER CENTER

Download Past Issues

December 2018 : Keep Flu Patients Out Of the Hospital – Or Worse

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

CASE REPORTS

A Pregnant Mother Presenting to Urgent Care with Chickenpox

Urgent message: Failure to correctly diagnose and provide immediate treatment for varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection …
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Post Sports Injury Burn Due to Inappropriate Use of Cryotherapy

Urgent message: PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation) treatment is often advised to patients as …
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A 32-Year-Old Male with Unsteady Gait

Urgent message: Early diagnosis and management of multiple sclerosis are crucial for long-term prognosis. Urgent care …
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Rhabdomyolysis in a Previously Healthy 33-Year-Old Man

Urgent message: Life-threatening degrees of rhabdomyolysis can be seen in young, healthy patients with stable presentation …
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Leg Pain in a 34-Year-Old Man

Urgent message: The ability to differentiate deep vein thrombosis from other diagnoses such as cellulitis is …
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HEALTH LAW

What Happens if You Break a Commercial Lease?

Urgent message: Whether starting a new urgent care center and entering into a lease for the …
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The Tax, Legal, and Business Implications of Providing a Company Vehicle, Vehicle Allowance, or Mileage Reimbursement

Urgent message: The nature of a multisite urgent care business entails operations and clinical leadership travelling …
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Animals Used for Medical and Support Assistance in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Urgent care providers must be prepared to address the increasing presence of dogs and …
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HIPAA-Compliant Disclosure in Workers’ Compensation

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care and is Practice …
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Which Way to Go: The Pros and Cons of 1099 vs W-2 Income for Urgent Care Physicians

Urgent message: To avoid running afoul of labor and tax laws, urgent care operators should understand …
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CLINICAL CHALLENGES

A 50-Year-Old Farmer with Flu-Like Symptoms

The patient, age 50, is a farmer who presents with flu-like symptoms—fever, chills, productive cough, myalgia, and pleuritic chest pain …
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A 9-Year-Old Girl Who Choked on a Chicken Nugget

Case The patient is a 9-year-old girl who is brought in by her parents shortly after choking on a chicken …
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A 73-Year-Old Woman with a 12-Day History of Palpitations

Case The patient is a 73-year-old woman who presents to the urgent care center with palpitations she says she first …
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A 12-Year-Old Football Player with Sudden Hip Pain

Case The patient is a 12-year-old boy who presents with sudden hip pain that started simultaneously with a “popping feeling” …
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A 45-Year-Old Woman with Suddenly Discolored Skin

Case A 45-year-old woman presents with a complaint of “a brown spot” on her back. Upon examination, you confirm there …
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OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE

Latest Drugs Added to Panel Turn Up More Often in Positive DOT Tests

The U.S. Department of Transportation added four semisynthetic opioids to its drug testing panel on the first of this year …
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Attention Occ Med Providers: FMCSA Loosens Up Rules on Diabetic Commercial Drivers

With publication of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) new Qualification of Drivers; Diabetes Standard, drivers who have insulin-treated …
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Boom in ‘Company Doctors’ Could Be a Boon for Urgent Care/Occ Med Providers

The popularity of workplace medical practices has waxed and waned for ages, but with major employers like Amazon and Apple …
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New Quest Diagnostics Data Show Drug Use Among Workers Remains High

It may come as no surprise to urgent care providers who offer occupational medicine services such as drug testing, but …
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Beware Patients Who’ll Go to Great—Great—Lengths to Pass Drug Tests

The opiate crisis and legalization of marijuana in some states has upped the ante for occupational medicine providers charged with …
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Revenue Cycle Management

Big Changes in Medicare Evaluation and Management Reimbursement

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the proposed changes for the Calendar Year (CY) 2019 Physician …
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Small Errors Could Cost Big Bucks When Billing for I&D

Q: While reviewing charts where incision and drainage (I&D) procedures were being performed, I came across instances where Current Procedural …
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2019 International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) Codes

October 1, 2018 will bring 279 new codes to ICD-10-CM. Combined with 51 deactivated codes (and 143 revised codes), that …
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Clarifying the Coding for Splint and Cast Application by Nonphysicians

Q: I would like clarification on an article I read in The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM) online archive …
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New Medicare Cards

Q: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) started issuing new Medicare cards to beneficiaries in April of this …
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DEVELOPING DATA

Flu Shot Coverage and Effectiveness—a Historical Perspective

Patients who heed your advice to get a flu shot and take common-sense measures to avoid spreading germs—regular, effective handwashing; …
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If You Want Your Providers to Get a Flu Shot, Make It a Requirement

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has spelled out the best way to ensure providers who work in your …
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Urgent Care Visits Go Up (and Up, and Up) While Costs Remain Low vs the ED

The key question posed by the authors of an article published last month in JAMA Internal Medicine: How have patterns …
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Warning: The Future of Patient Engagement May Require Straying Beyond Your Comfort Zone

Urgent care has faced many challenges since its inception—starting with trying to get healthcare consumers and insurers to understand what …
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Urgent Care Ownership: Corporations on the Rise, Physicians and Hospitals on the Decline

The urgent care industry—always revolutionary compared with other practice settings—is undergoing a revolution of its own. First, entrepreneurial physicians ruled …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts In Urgent Care – December 2018

The Year in Abstracts: Top Papers of 2018 for the Urgent Care Clinician Reviewed by Andy S. Barnett, MD  This …
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Abstracts In Urgent Care – November 2018

From ID Week: Outbreak-Related Hep A Infections Are on the Rise Key point: Hepatitis A infection may be evolving from …
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Abstracts In Urgent Care – October 2018

New Data Show ‘Steep and Sustained’ Increase in STD Occurrence—Especially Syphilis Key point: Over the past 5 years, rates of …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – September 2018

WHO Announces ICD-11, Coming Next Year Key point: New set will reflect current terminologies and classifications, integrate more smoothly with …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – July 2018

CDC Attributes 200+ Cases of Coagulopathy to Synthetic Cannaboids Key point: “Marijuana alternatives” are widely available—and being blamed for multiple …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Longitudinal Assessment: A Dent in the ABMS Armor?

With the volume of dissent against Maintenance of Certification (MOC) now at a fever pitch, American Board of Medical Specialties …
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Urgent Care and Antibiotics: Advancing Care and Stewardship

Antimicrobial stewardship is defined as a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials (including antibiotics), improves patient outcomes, …
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Anger Management: Hostile Encounters in Urgent Care

Eliminating disruption, distraction, and dissatisfaction is paramount to delivering efficient and high-quality care these days. More than ever, urgent cares …
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Slow Medicine: ‘Unprescribing’ America

#TimesUp; #NeverAgain; #Privacy; #OpioidCrisis; #BlackLivesMatter…. The last year has been a dramatic one for turning points in long-festering social issues …
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Chasing Flu: Predictably Unpredictable

I have managed urgent cares for nearly 20 years and can officially say that predicting flu is for fools! Perhaps …
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