Ashley Blachford, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Smart Ring With AI Model Predicts Viral Respiratory Infection

It seems that artificial intelligence (AI) models can detect early acute systemic inflammation in response to viral respiratory tract infections (VRTIs) through biometric data collected from wearable devices, according to a small study published in Lancet Digital Health. In the prospective study, 55 healthy adults aged 18–59 years were monitored before and after receiving a live attenuated influenza vaccine, which simulated real-world infection. Participants continuously wore a smart ring, smart watch, and smart shirt, which …

Pay For Urgent Care Physicians Grows the Most, Although Still Low on the List

A new analysis examining survey data from 37,000 physicians across all healthcare specialties found the average physician reported a 3.7% increase in pay, following a nearly 6% increase from the same survey just a year ago, conducted by physician-networking platform Doximity. The perpetual gender gap—in which women physicians are paid significantly less than their male counterparts—shows no sign of catching up. In this year’s survey, there is a 26% gap between women and men after …

CMS Aspires to Build Ambitious National Provider Directory

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is aiming to construct a healthcare resource that has been notoriously difficult to create: a national provider directory. For decades, policies attempting to hold managed care organizations responsible for keeping up-to-date directories of their in-network physician practices, hospitals, surgery centers, and the like have been impractical for insurers to comply with and nearly impossible for policymakers to enforce. Reports of error-filled “ghost networks” that misrepresent the real-world …

AAP Stands By Flu Vaccination Without Formulation Preference

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is now recommending flu vaccination for all individuals aged 6 months and older for the 2025–2026 season, emphasizing that any age-appropriate vaccine should be delivered without preference for a certain product or formulation, as posted in a prepublication release in Pediatrics. Contrasting with recent federal moves, AAP is advising against avoiding or delaying vaccination in order to seek out specific thimerosal-free options. Although the Centers for Disease Control and …

Long Daytime Naps Associated With Atrial Fibrillation

A prospective cohort study of 20,827 Spanish adults found an association between daytime and nighttime sleep patterns and the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), as published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Over a median follow-up of 15.1 years, a total of 163 incident atrial fibrillation cases were confirmed by medical record. Compared to individuals who took short daytime naps (less than 30 minutes a day), those in the study who took long naps …

GoHealth, UPMC Joint Venture Cuts Ribbons on Rebranded Centers

Following their announcement last fall to enter into a joint venture, GoHealth Urgent Care and UPMC health system have now cut the ribbons on a number of rebranded centers in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, bringing their network of urgent cares to a total of 81 centers across the 2 states. The partnership marked the initial entry of GoHealth in the western Pennsylvania market, and as part of the deal, UPMC’s existing urgent care centers were …

New Lyme Disease Blood Test Promises High Sensitivity, Specificity

This week, at an annual scientific meeting of the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM), researchers described a blood test developed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) that they say identifies Lyme disease sooner and more accurately than the 2-tier serology diagnostic tools currently used in medicine. The new test has sensitivity and specificity of 90% or greater, according to a press release from ADLM. Researchers created an algorithm that improved accuracy across …

Looks Like Another Tough Year for Pertussis Cases

This month, the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reported 80 pertussis cases for the year so far—well surpassing its total of 49 cases reported in all of 2024. Ten patients have been hospitalized, including 7 children under the age of 2, although no deaths have been recorded through July 10, 2025. Children under 18 account for 76% of Mississippi’s cases, including 7 infants younger than 2 months. At least 28 of the individuals who …

Urgent Care’s Use of Antibiotics, Glucocorticoids, Opioids Not Always Appropriate

In a study that analyzed more than 22 million urgent care visits from 2018 to 2022, researchers assessed prescribing practices across several drug categories with the aim to shed light on opportunities for tailored stewardship programs. Among the total visits across all age groups, antibiotics were prescribed in 12.4% of visits, glucocorticoids in 9.1% of visits, and opioids in 1.3% of visits, as published in Annals of Internal Medicine. However, the authors estimate a substantial …

Measles Cases Keep Climbing, Exceeding Long-Term Records

This month, the United States reached a level of more confirmed measles cases for the year than in any time in the past 30 years. 1990 saw an unusual high of 27,808 measles cases reported with a series of outbreaks in large metro areas. However, subsequent improvement in vaccine policies encouraged higher vaccination rates, which helped dramatically reduce cases over the next few years. Cases dropped to 2,126 by 1992, and measles was declared eliminated …

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