Ashley Blachford, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Reducing Low-Acuity Preventable Emergency Room Visits by Utilizing Urgent Care Center Services via Mobile Health Unit Diversion Program

Urgent message: Urgent care centers can execute and implement innovative ideas to ameliorate overcrowded Emergency Rooms. The creation of a mobile health diversion program to transport low acuity conditions to urgent care instead of a hospital emergency department can improve population health and reduce healthcare cost; providing the opportunity to leverage value-based care by targeting the triple aim (reducing cost, increasing patient satisfaction, and improving outcomes) while freeing up the emergency medical system services. Cesar …

A 46-Year-Old Male Who Presents Due to His Defibrillator Firing

The patient is a 46-year-old male with a history of hypertension and congestive heart failure who presents complaining of his defibrillator firing—twice yesterday and once today. He denies chest pain, shortness of breath, fever, nausea or vomiting. He ran out of his carvedilol about 1 month ago. View the initial ECG and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.

A 60-Year-Old Woman with Dark, Painful Plaques on Her Legs

The patient is a 60-year-old woman who presents to urgent care after developing dark areas over both legs over the course of the past few days. They are extremely painful. On examination, there were violaceous and dark brown, retiform plaques, some depressed and some crusted, over the legs. The patient has a history of diabetes, hypertension, and chronic renal insufficiency for which she required hemodialysis. View the image and consider what your diagnosis and next …

A 31-Year-Old with Pain After Twisting His Ankle

The patient is a 31-year-old male who presents with lateral ankle pain after an inversion injury during a game of basketball. View the images taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.

Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2022

When Handlebar Meets Abdomen Corticosteroids and Asthma Antibiotics in Pediatric PAC Surfactant Use in AOM COVID Pneumonia and Disease Progression Neutralizing Antibodies in COVID Pediatric Abdominal Injuries from Handlebars Take-home point: Handlebar impact is a high-risk mechanism for serious intraabdominal injury in children and necessity of operative intervention is common. Citation: Vanderwalle R, Barker S, Raymond J, et. al. Pediatric handlebar injuries: more than meets the abdomen. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2021;37(9):e517-e523. Relevance: It is important …

In Spite of Turbulence, the Forecast Is Sunny for the Urgent Care Market

No one would argue that the past 2 years have been easy for urgent care. First many operations were shut out of the running to receive adequate COVID-19 testing supplies. The same occurred in the early days after vaccine approval. Still, the industry adapted. Once testing supplies were available, operators established new procedures to maximize the number of patients could get tested safely and efficiently, whether that meant setting up in parking lots or selecting …

Evaluating Decreased Libido: The Lowdown on Low T

Urgent message: Hypogonadism not only impedes biological development, but also negatively impacts a patient’s sense of identity and well-being. Prompt diagnosis is achievable through strategic utilization of hormone level testing in conjunction with a patient’s stated symptoms and medical history. Lisa O. Iyeke, BS and Mark J. Richman, MD, MPH Citation: Iyeke LO, Richman MJ. Evaluating decreased libido: the lowdown on low T. J Urgent Care Med. 2021;16(6):33-34. CASE PRESENTATION A 46-year-old male with benign …

Testicular Torsion: The Case of the Dancing Testicle

Urgent message: The differential diagnosis for unilateral testicular pain includes testicular torsion; this is a ”must not miss” diagnosis, as delayed diagnosis can cause significant morbidity both physically and psychologically. Jeannette Vaughn-Dotterer, PA-C CASE PRESENTATION ML is a 47-year-old male who developed left-sided testicular pain after getting out of bed 2 hours prior. He states that his left testicle appears to be “dancing” and seems to be riding higher than his right testicle. ML states …

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 practitioners now making up the bulk of providers. Whereas physicians historically have been excluded from joining a union, recent efforts to organize PAs and NPs have garnered media attention. While just over 10% of U.S. employees belonged to a union in 2019, a number of groups in industries that do not traditionally have a union presence have gone on …

Are Food/Drug Retailers Hiding their Retail Clinic “Failures?”

Urgent message: Over the past 15 years, the nation’s largest food, drug, and mass retailers have announced clinic initiatives with great fanfare. However, we’ve heard little as these initiatives have quietly retreated and re-trenched, coincidently during the same period that urgent care has boomed. Alan Ayers, MBA, MAcc is Senior Editor, Practice Management of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine Retail clinics—does anyone care anymore? Given there’s not been an “industry” update tallying the number of …