Practice Management
Patients who test positive for COVID-19 or believe they are infected no longer need to stay home and isolate for 5 days, as per new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines adopted last week. The CDC reworked its prevailing guidance, saying that COVID-19 “is no longer the emergency that it once was,” and people who with COVID-19 can return to everyday activities if their symptoms are mild, have been improving, and it’s been …
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The American Medical Association (AMA) has been consistently outspoken against proposed legislation looking to authorize pharmacists to leverage test results to directly diagnose patients. AMA warns that such “scope creep” is detrimental to patient health because an isolated lab test depicts only a snapshot of overall health, which is not enough to determine treatment. AMA stresses that pharmacists are not trained to diagnose patients, and it has defeated pharmacist-prescribing proposals in Alabama and Louisiana. Pushing …
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Researchers found the use of video telemedicine to conduct consultations for acutely ill children in rural and community emergency departments (EDs) does not reduce medication errors when compared to consultations done by telephone, as presented in JAMA Network Open. A randomized trial across 15 community and rural EDs that examined 696 cases of acutely ill children found no statistically significant differences in physician-related medication errors between cases leveraging telephone consultations when compared to cases leveraging …
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The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group, focusing on how the UnitedHealthcare insurance division influences its own Optum health-services arm, according to the Wall Street Journal. Optum’s portfolio includes physician groups and other providers, and the business line employs a total physician force of about 90,000, making it the largest physician employer in the country. The investigation is digging into how Optum’s acquisitions of physician groups impact competition, particularly in …
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A 42-year-old man presents to urgent care with knee pain. He says the pain started when he was playing soccer, just as he kicked a ball toward the goal. Ultimately, he had to leave the game because of the pain. View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the following page.
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A 38-year-old woman presented to urgent care for rash that had developed on her trunk 2 months prior. On examination, extensive hyperpigmented, reticulated patches were seen on her back. She had no recent history of sunburn, extensive sun exposure, or history of dermatological conditions. Additional history revealed the use of a heating pad for the preceding 3 months to help manage her chronic back pain. She often rested on the electric heating pad for several …
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Urgent Message: Isolated sternal fractures in children can occur from relatively minor trauma, such as a trampoline fall, and patients can often be managed conservatively. NaShayla Davis, MD; Olabisi Pearse, MD; Swati Mahajan, MD; Marie-Helene Gagnon, MD; Rebecca Burger, MD Citation: Davis N, Pearse O, Mahajan S, Gagnon MH, Burger R. Isolated Sternal Fractures After Trampoline Falls in Children: A Case Series. J Urgent Care Med. 2024; 18(6): 13-16 Key Words: Trampoline, Fall, Fracture, Injury, …
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Omicron versus Flu & RSV – Which is Most Dangerous for Children? Take Home Point: In this study, hospitalization rates were highest for patients with RSV than Omicron (COVID-19) in all age groups of children. Citation: Hedberg P, Abdel-Halem L, Valik J, et. al. Outcomes of Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infection vs Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections. JAMA Pediatr. 2023 Dec 26: e235734. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.5734 Relevance: With increasing availability for respiratory pathogen testing, it is …
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Francesca Cocchiarale, DO; Alexa Bailey, MS-3; Michael Weinstock, MD Urgent Message: Pulmonary embolism can be frequently missed as a diagnosis because it can present with a variety of signs and symptoms. Understanding clinical decision rules and myriad presentations can help urgent care providers determine when patients benefit from immediate referral to an emergency department. Citation: Cocchiarale F, Bailey A, Weinstock M. An Atypical Cause of Fever and Confusion: A Case Report of Delayed Pulmonary Embolism …
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A 55-year-old male with a history of heart failure presents to the urgent care with dyspnea. An ECG is obtained. View the ECG captured above and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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