Practice Management
As we begin a new year, I’m struck by both the resilience of the Urgent Care community and the urgency of the moment we’re in. Over the past several months, through conversations with operators, clinicians, vendors, and other partners, one message has been unmistakably clear: Urgent Care is ready to move forward together with renewed purpose, a stronger voice, and a sharper vision for the future. 2026 will be a pivotal year. The pressures facing …
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The American Cancer Society has endorsed the use of self-collected vaginal samples for cervical cancer screening in average-risk women, which experts say will improve access to testing and early detection. The new guidance published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians introduces 2 major updates, allowing for self-collection for primary human papillomavirus (HPV) testing and also clarifying the related screening cadence. Clinician-collected cervical samples have long been the standard for cytology-based screening, but research has …
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Medical school enrollment is hitting a new high for the 2025-2026 academic year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. For the first time, total enrollment has topped 100,000 students, and the total number of medical school applicants rose by 5.3%, reversing a 3-year decline. Except for a 1-year increase in 2021-2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the new figures represent the largest gain in a decade, the association says. First-time applicants comprised 76.5% of …
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A Danish study published in JAMA Network Open found that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection was linked to a sustained rise in cardiovascular risk over 1 year in adults aged 45 years or older. In the study population, those with RSV (8,747 individuals) experienced 665 cardiovascular events vs 257 in matched controls (8,747 individuals without infection), yielding a 365-day excess risk of 4.69 percentage points. In this matched cohort study of 17,494 adults, early risk …
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A new analysis published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines provided meaningful protection against the need for emergency department or urgent care visits related to COVID-19 in children. Using a test-negative design, researchers found vaccine effectiveness was 76% (95% confidence interval [CI], 58%–87%) for children aged 9 months-4 years and 56% (95% CI, 35%–70%) for those aged 5-17 years. Protection persisted with extended follow-up through 299 days. Approximately 38,000 …
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This month, Banner Health is moving to a cashless payment system as a cost-savings measure, according to a press release. The nonprofit system has rolled out the cashless model across Arizona and will phase in the policy across other locations (California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming ) in the coming months with a target date to complete the transition by March 2026. Cash collection creates administrative costs that represent more than a third of the …
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Some 80 clinicians at Legacy Health recently announced 2-day solidarity strikes to show support for 140 of their coworkers—represented by the Oregon Nurses Association—who are already on an open-ended strike that started on December 2, according to the Oregonian. As of press time, about 50 nurse practitioners and physician assistants at Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care clinics were committed to a strike during the holiday week as were 30 pediatric advanced practice providers who work at Randall …
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The Food and Drug Administration has approved 2 new oral antibiotics for the treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea, expanding therapeutic options amid growing drug resistance. Zoliflodacin was approved based on results from a multinational phase 3 trial involving 930 patients. In the study, a single oral dose of zoliflodacin was noninferior to a regimen of injectable ceftriaxone plus oral azithromycin. The study showed 91% of patients who took zoliflodacin were cured, and 96% of patients who …
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Responding to increasing demand for radiology technologists, ExpressCare Urgent Care Centers in Maryland launched a new Limited X-Ray Machine Operator (LXMO) Program earlier this year and has now graduated its first 9 students. The program offers medical assistants with at least 1 year of experience at ExpressCare or Children’s Urgent Care the opportunity to earn certification and obtain Maryland Board of Physicians registration, according to a press release from LifeBridge Health. After successfully passing a …
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According to a U.S. retrospective analysis published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, real-world outcomes suggests that baloxavir may offer more reduction in downstream healthcare utilization among influenza outpatients compared to oseltamivir. The study evaluated electronic health records from 69 healthcare organizations, identifying more than 75,000 treated patients aged 5 years and older who received either oseltamivir (73,899) or baloxavir (1,592) from 2016 to 2023. Across 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-up periods, baloxavir users …
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