Ashley Blachford, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Bacterial Vaginosis Linked to Higher Rates of STI Coinfections

Among patients presenting for vaginitis evaluation, bacterial vaginosis was found to be strongly associated with increased risk of nonviral sexually transmitted coinfection, as published in O&G Open. Researchers retrospectively studied 1.5 million women who received molecular testing for bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) from 2022–2024 in the United States. They found bacterial vaginosis was detected in 38.7% of patients and vulvovaginal candidiasis was detected in 28.5% of patients—with 10.8% of patients …

Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome Records Triple With New ICD-10 Code

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis identified 199,565 emergency department (ED) visits involving cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) in the United States from January 2023 through May 2026 and found that new coding helped to document patient cases of CHS. Researchers evaluated the time period before and after October 1, 2025, when the dedicated ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for CHS (R11.16) went into effect. The introduction of the ICD-10 code provided a direct way …

Oral Antihistamines Don’t Help Atopic Dermatitis

Routine oral antihistamines provide little benefit for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, according to a new meta-analysis published in The BMJ. Researchers evaluated 47 trials involving 6,230 children and adults with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis across more than a dozen countries to determine whether adding oral antihistamines improves eczema outcomes. Although second-generation antihistamines (eg, cetirizine, loratadine, fexofenadine) produced statistically significant reductions in eczema severity and itch, the improvements were below established thresholds for clinical …

Drones Deliver Medication To Cleveland Clinic Patients

Cleveland Clinic has launched a medication home-delivery program that brings prescriptions to patients by drone, according to an announcement . The program currently serves patients within a 5-mile radius of the system’s main administrative campus, which functions as the drone operations hub, and the first patient deliveries were completed last week. What’s significant is that the health system plans to expand the service to additional locations and eventually add more items for drone transport, which …

HCA Adds To Its Texas Urgent Care Portfolio

Methodist Healthcare this week announced its acquisition of 18 Texas MedClinic urgent care centers, increasing its San Antonio urgent care network to 35 CareNow locations. Texas MedClinic was founded in 1982 and represented one of the state’s oldest and most recognizable independent urgent care brands. It was acquired in 2022 by Community Care Partners. Yet, the larger story is that Methodist’s parent company, HCA Healthcare, has acquired the entire Texas MedClinic portfolio of 40 urgent …

NP Workforce Growing Quickly, While Physicians Remain Steady

A new analysis in Health Affairs estimates that the U.S. clinician workforce will continue to shift through 2030 with nurse practitioners (NPs) representing the fastest-growing segment. The number of full-time physicians is expected to increase by only about 1% annually, compared with 5.6% growth for physician assistants/associates (PAs) and 11% growth for NPs. By 2030, the combined number of NPs and PAs is projected to grow to 912,265 workers—almost the size of the physician workforce …

CUCM, UCCOP Shape Measures For Urgent Care Clinician Productivity

The Urgent Care Association recently brought together members of its Clinical Advisory Group, Strategic Advisory Group, and Delegates Council in Washington, D.C., for the annual thought leader meeting known as The Assembly. During the event, the College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM) and the Urgent Care College of Physicians (UCCOP) crafted a new position statement on clinician productivity. The leaders took a practical approach that uses a balanced, multidimensional framework, which incorporates patient volume, clinical …

Majority of Symptomatic Respiratory Infections Managed At Home

Respiratory viruses can impact infants more severely than older children, and symptoms run the gamut, according to a new study in Pediatrics. Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center followed 1,223 healthy children from infancy through age 5 from November 2019 to August 2025 and analyzed 15,898 laboratory-confirmed, single-pathogen respiratory infections to characterize symptom patterns and clinical outcomes. Rhinorrhea, cough, malaise, and fatigue were the most common symptoms. The authors also found that compared with …

Urgent Care Absorbs GI Surge In Cyclospora Outbreak

Urgent care centers have absorbed a national surge in gastrointestinal (GI) visits this summer, driven by a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak. Urgent Care Consultants’ analysis of 3.9 million private urgent care visits across roughly 3,000 centers using the Experity EMR found GI complaints rose from 22.2 to 34.9 per 1,000 visits between July 2025 and July 2026—an increase of 57%. In the peak week of July 13, 1 in 24 patients presented with acute GI illness, …

New Hampshire Boasts Best Access, Most Urgent Cares

A new analysis concludes that New Hampshire has the best healthcare system in the nation. The annual report produced by Wallet Hub evaluates states based on cost, access, and outcomes using 44 key indicators—including the number of urgent-care centers per capita that are certified by the Urgent Care Association. According to the report, New Hampshire has the most urgent care centers as well as the lowest average monthly health insurance premium ($469) and the second-lowest …

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