Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

The Impact of Parental Pressure on Providers Practicing in Pediatric Urgent Care

Urgent Message: Pediatric urgent care providers commonly experience pressure to satisfy parental expectations, which may alter clinical decision making, increase stress levels, and/or impart barriers to administering quality care. Keywords: parental pressure; antibiotic prescribing; shared decision-making; pediatric urgent care; patient satisfaction; clinical decision-making Daniel Moscato, MS, PA-C; Sara Winter, MS, PA-C Abstract Background: Patient-centered care focuses on strengthening patient participation in their own healthcare. Although advantages to such care exist, intended shared decision making between …

Algorithmic Prediction of Utilization and Financial Viability Modeling for Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in Adult Urgent Care Patients

Urgent Message: The prediction model developed for this study suggests that point-of-care ultrasound implementation could have both clinical utility and fiscal viability in an average urgent care center. Future work should validate the prediction model in a real-world urgent care setting. Key Words: point-of-care ultrasound; POCUS utilization; urgent care ultrasound; return on investment; financial modeling; implementation planning John Weissert; Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, ELS, FCUCM, FACEP; Tatiana Havryliuk, MD Abstract Introduction: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) use …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – February 2026

Do We Need to Manage Presyncope Similar to Syncope? Take Home Point: Patients with unexplained presyncope and syncope in this study had similar rates of serious cardiac outcomes at 30 days following their initial emergency department (ED) visit. Citation: Suh EH, Sacco DL, Winskill C, et al. Serious Cardiac Outcomes and Physician Estimation of Risk in Emergency Department Patients With Presyncope Versus Syncope. Ann Emerg Med. 2025 23:S0196-0644(25)01155-2. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2025.08.014 Relevance: Patients with presyncope and syncope …

61-Year-Old With Chronic Kidney Disease

A 61-year-old male with a history of hypertension, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease presents to urgent care on a Tuesday afternoon with 1 week of increased weakness. He says he’s “feeling off balance.” He denies chest pain, shortness of breath, or recent illness. An ECG is ordered. View the ECG and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.

Improving Chart Closure Time in a Pediatric Urgent Care Setting

Urgent Message: Quality improvement projects can increase the percentage of charts closed within 1 hour of patient discharge at pediatric urgent and express care locations to ensure timely documentation. Key Words: Electronic Health Records, Documentation, Pediatrics, Ambulatory Care, Patient Safety, Quality Improvement Kileen Fernandez, MS, APRN-CPNP-PC; Lisa Ziemnik, MD, FAAP; Beth Williams, MBA, BSIE; Abiodun Omoloja, MD, MBA, CPE, FASN, FAMIA; Jennifer Morris, MS, APRN-CNP-PC, RNC-NIC; Maddie Mock, BSME; Thomas Geglein, BSN, RN, MBA; Kimberly …

4-Year-Old Male With Elbow Pain Following a Fall from Monkey Bars

A 4-year-old male presents to urgent care with a swollen, painful right elbow. The mother reports that the child had a witnessed fall from the monkey bars 1 hour prior to arrival. He fell onto his outstretched right hand, was in immediate pain that has not subsided, and has refused to let anyone touch his arm. On initial examination, vital signs are stable, and patient is afebrile. Swelling is noted over the right elbow, and …

53-Year-Old Woman With Dark Patchy Spots on Face and Neck

A 53-year-old woman visits urgent care for dark patchy spots on her neck and face that have been spreading over the past 3 months. The lesions are not painful or itchy, she denies exposure to allergens or irritants, and has no systemic symptoms. The patient states that sun exposure darkens the spots further and she has not tried any treatments to date. On examination she appears well with normal signs; hyperpigmented gray macular patches are …

60-Year-Old With Prior Myocardial Infarction

A 60-year-old male with a past medical history of prior myocardial infarction (MI) is presenting with left-sided chest pain for 1 day. He reports nonadherence to his clopidogrel for 2 weeks after running out of his medications. View the ECG and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.

Abstracts in Urgent Care – January 2026

Prevention of RSV Disease in Healthy Infants Take Home Point: In this early phase, drug-manufacturer-funded clinical trial, a single dose of clesrovimab reduced the incidence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated medically attended lower respiratory infection and RSV-associated hospitalization, with a safety profile similar to that of a placebo. Citation: Zar HJ, Simões E, Madhi S, et. al. Clesrovimab in Infants and Children at Increased Risk for Severe RSV Disease. New Eng J Med. 2025:393, 13;1292-1303. …

Management of Acute Opioid Withdrawal in a Patient With an Unknown Prescribing History: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Opioid prescribing in urgent care can present difficulties, particularly in patients with an unclear prescription history where added caution is needed. There are a number of ways to reduce the risks associated with opioid prescribing and to initiate the treatment of opioid withdrawal in the urgent care setting. Jacob Mather, BSc MBChB Key Words: Addiction, Opioid Withdrawal, Prescribing, Urgent Care Abstract Introduction: We report a complex case of a 37-year-old woman presenting to …

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