Practice Management
Urgent message: Though not considered as at “at risk” for severe disease with COVID-19, children have suffered significant disruptions to educational and personal activities throughout the pandemic. Recognizing urgent care’s role in testing for the virus could show benefit for families and urgent care centers alike. Rita P. Nunag, MD; Francesca M. Darquea, MD; Claire Loiselle; and Magdy W. Attia, MD Citation: Nunag RP, Darquea FM, Loiselle C, Attia MW. COVID-19 testing pattern in a …
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Urgent message: While market conditions for mergers and acquisitions are currently “hot,” variability in urgent care volume attributable to COVID-19 has led to changes in how deals are evaluated and structured. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is President of Experity Networks and is Senior Editor of the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine Nationally, merger-and-acquisition activity has set a record pace across all industries since the start of the pandemic. Corporations, private equity funds, and buyout …
Read MoreThere’s been a lot of discussion (including in JUCM and JUCM News) as to whether the COVID-19 pandemic would usher in a Golden Age of telehealth, whether within urgent care or in possible competition with urgent care. Now that we’re approaching 2 years in, actual data on the subject are starting to emerge. First, some background: Household Experiences in American During the Delta Variant Outbreak, a survey conducted this year for NPR, the Robert …
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Urgent message: Cutaneous abscesses are common presentations in urgent care. While either methicillin-sensitive or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus accounts for up to 75% of skin abscesses, atypical organisms such as nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTMB) can also lead to abscess formation. Urgent care providers should be aware that the clinical presentation may be atypical and require specialized treatment. Rachel Hughes, MD and Erik Butler, DO CASE PRESENTATION A 26-year-old female with no known past medical history other than …
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Urgent message: Fragile skin lacerations in geriatric patients require a different repair strategy from those in younger patients. Despite the increased complexity of their wounds, most elderly patients with lacerations can be appropriately managed in the urgent care center. Oscar D. Almeida, Jr., MD, FACOG, FACS and Amy Hunter, DNP, FNP-BC, MSN-RN INTRODUCTION Skin tears form a subcategory of traumatic lacerations frequently affecting older adults. A study that searched Medline and Cochrane Reviews found that …
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The Importance (or Not) of High BP Readings Learning While Driving—Does It Work? Considering Sucralfate in Pediatric Oral Ulcers Osteopathic Manipulation for Low Back Pain Safety of Oral Corticosteroid Bursts in Children Nathan M Finnerty, MD FACEP and Brett C Ebeling, MD Do High Blood Pressure Readings Matter? Take-home Point: Elevated blood pressure readings in the emergency room were not associated with an increased risk of poor cardiovascular outcomes in 2 years. Citation: McAlister F, …
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Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FACEP Until recently, I’ve had the rare luxury of working in busy urgent care centers where I was virtually always working side-by-side with another provider. However, with changes in my career and UC staffing models in the wake of the pandemic, I find myself working in single coverage situations the majority of the time nowadays. While I do miss the camaraderie of multi-coverage practice, I miss the unfettered access to a …
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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 …
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The patient is a 49-year-old male who presents with a primary complaint of what he describes as “gas pain” for the past 3 days. He denies any other symptoms or suspected etiologies. View the images taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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Urgent message: While legal documents may define who in an urgent care is able to legally obligate the company, such as when ordering a service or signing a contract, there are cases where “unauthorized” individuals can still bind the company—meaning the organization must have clear internal policies on signing authority. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Let’s say that a physician employed at an urgent care facility is working on a Saturday when a toilet backs …
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