Clinical

More than 20,000 deaths in the United Sates were attributed specifically to Staph infections in 2018, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With resistance to antibiotics being a constant threat—especially in urgent care, where patients are more likely to turn when they wake up with a sore throat—the Urgent Care Association jumped on this issue by forging partnerships to spread awareness of the dangers and educate both clinicians and …

Intermountain started trying to discourage drugseekers from preying on its urgent care centers years ago, before opioid abuse was recognized as the crisis it is today. It’s no surprise, then, that the company launched a successful internal campaign to lower the number of opioid prescriptions its providers issued. However, the 30% reduction they just announced is unsatisfactory in their own eyes, having set a goal of reducing them by 40%. So, the company has vowed …

Just as the United States House of Representatives held hearings to explore ways to encourage  more people to get vaccinated against measles—acknowledging that fear over mythical side effects makes a significant impact—a new study in Denmark provides further scientific proof that there is no link between vaccines and autism. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, focused on 657,461 children, some of whom were unvaccinated per their parents’ wishes and some of whom …

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that after years of decline, the number of HIV infections in the United States has pleateaued. New infections have stabilized, prompting the CDC to issue a call “for immediate action” on the part of healthcare providers, regardless of setting, to be more proactive in preventing HIV. The CDC’s report, Ending the Epidemic: A Plan for America, breaks down its recommendations into four steps: Protect …

Deaths due to accidental opioid overdoses have reached unprecedented heights. In fact, according to new data from the National Safety Council, the odds of dying of an accidental opioid overdose are greater than being killed in a car accident in the United States. The odds for death by accidental opioid overdose are now 1 in 96, compared with 1 in 103 for car accidents. Recognizing the risk even in advance of the troubling new data, …

Vermont Urgent Care has made testing for and treating sexually transmitted diseases a clinical priority in its Los Angeles neighborhood—even offering to test qualified patients at no cost. That decision is paying off with acclaim in being called out as one of the top providers of herpes testing services in the LA metro area. It started as part of a concentrated effort to expand the operation’s sexual health services. That allowed its providers to both …

A lesson in reducing unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics could be gleaned from a new study based in a large academic dental practice, of all places. It showed a 73% decrease in antibiotic prescribing vs baseline. The study population included 635 Medicaid members who sought urgent care for oral complaints at Illinois’ largest oral healthcare provider. Before the mandated intervention (patient and provider education and clinical guideline development), 8.5% of visits included a prescription for an …

One of the challenges of assessing patients for concussion in the urgent care center is that, most often, the examining clinician has had no previous contact with a given patient; there’s no baseline to compare their current condition against. A new piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association brings news of a new tool that diminishes the importance of a baseline for patient who may have sustained a concussion, however. EyeBox, approved …

As the 2018–19 influenza season peaks in the United States, public health officials and academic experts are pleading with patients to stay away from the emergency room if they have flu symptoms—and instead head to their nearest urgent care center. The Rhode Island Department of Health, for one, issued a statement singling out urgent care as the ideal setting for flu testing and treatment, to avoid both long waits and high costs in the ED …

Many parents opt to bring young athletes who’ve taken a blow to the head to an urgent care center instead of the emergency room or the pediatrician, especially if they’re concerned about excessive waits. As such, you should be aware of a new study out of the University of Buffalo that suggests a supervised aerobic exercise regimen spurs faster recovery in adolescents who’ve sustained a concussion while playing a sport. Researchers followed 103 subjects between …