Practice Management
A study in a public school system found that younger students had the highest rates of respiratory virus detections compared to older grades, as published in Pediatrics. From November 2022 to May 2023, 816 students and staff in the North Kansas City, Missouri, school system provided 5,981 nasal swab samples and 5,198 monthly symptom surveys for the pre-kindergarten (pre-K) through 12th grade classes for 24.5 weeks. Overall, 85.5% of students and staff had at least …
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A survey of 1,504 clinicians found that 55% of them are planning on looking for a new job in the next year, and 42% worry that artificial intelligence (AI) is going to replace some aspect of their jobs. Additionally, 43% of respondents say AI is also the top clinical or technical skill they will need in the next 5 years. At least 80% of responding clinicians believe their employers should invest in continuing education and …
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Parents and clinicians don’t always share the same perspectives on diagnostic testing for pediatric diarrhea, according to a qualitative study published in JAMA Network Open. Interviews with 44 parents (91% female; median age, 34 years) and 16 clinicians (69% female; median age, 42 years) from 5 urgent care sites and 1 emergency department in Utah demonstrated the differences in their expectations. Participating clinicians included 10 physicians (62%) and 6 nurse practitioners or physician assistants (38%). …
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Many patients are now using artificial intelligence (AI) tools with large language models to fill the information gap between the time their test results show up in their patient-facing health records—which could be the same day—and the time their clinicians provide personalized interpretation and next steps. Experts warn that the accuracy of AI chatbot information often depends on how the patients frame their questions and what details they input along the way. But it turns …
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The cumulative influenza-associated hospitalization rate for the 2024–2025 season was the highest since 2010–2011, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which classified the season overall as “high severity.” Hospital admissions from October 1, 2024, through April 30, 2025, reached 127.1 per 100,000 population and were highest among Americans aged 75 years and older (598.8). Across age groups, hospitalization rates during last season were 1.8 to 2.8 times higher …
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In a quasi-experimental study involving 2 Denver Health urgent care centers, an antibiotic stewardship program known as the Take 5 Campaign increased the rates of adherence to a recommended 5-day antibiotic prescribing duration, according to a new study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. “Antibiotic stewardship in urgent care is critical,” says Lindsey E. Fish, MD, study author and Editor in Chief of JUCM. “While many programs focus on decreasing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, ensuring the …
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According to a compensation survey analyzed by Beckers, physician assistants (PAs) in urgent care earn a median $154,355 in annual total cash compensation. In fact, urgent care is one of the top 10 highest paid specialties for PAs, although cardiovascular surgery claims the number 1 spot at $166,250 in annual compensation. For nurse practitioners (NPs), urgent care didn’t make the list of lucrative specialties, however, emergency medicine was ranked best for NPs at $155,556 in …
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The seemingly ubiquitous Apple smartwatch now has another feature that could be useful in screening users for health conditions. In addition to its approved method for alerting users for possible atrial fibrillation, the latest version of the wearable device includes a tool to detect chronic hypertension, according to the company’s press release. The watch would display a heart-shaped symbol and a “possible hypertension” notification based on data from an optical heart sensor that analyzes how …
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Several urgent care workers in Santa Barbara, California, were terminated from employment recently after making controversial social media posts. Employees reportedly mocked a female patient and shared images of bodily fluids on an exam room table after the woman’s pelvic exam, according to local news reports. The social media account has since been locked and all posts were deleted. Even so, the center received a flurry of negative online reviews as a result. Policy points: …
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A phase 2 clinical trial found that azelastine nasal spray could potentially prevent COVID-19 infections in healthy adults, as published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Among 450 study participants, SARS-CoV-2 infection as determined by polymerase chain reaction testing occurred in 2.2% of those using azelastine compared with 6.7% in the placebo group, representing a 67% relative risk reduction (odds ratio, 0.31; 95% confidence interval, 0.11-0.87). Symptomatic COVID-19 infections were also less frequent with azelastine (1.8% vs …
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