Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

The Message is Becoming Clearer: Get on the Telehealth Train or Get Left at the Station

Many employers sent workers to do their jobs at home last spring. A lot of them are finding that things are going just fine that way and considering whether to make remote work a permanent option that could save money on facilities. Similarly, many patients tried (and liked) telemedicine for the first time over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic—begging the question of whether that will become a preferred option that threatens traditional brick-and-mortar healthcare …

Flu Vaccination and Reporting Are Under Scrutiny This Year. Are You on Point with State Law?

2020 has seen a new word introduced into the lexicon of healthcare in the United States. With the COVID-19 pandemic stretching on into the foreseeable future and coinciding with the advent of influenza season, public health experts are warning about a possible twindemic—simultaneous widespread outbreaks of both COVID-19 and flu. As such, there’s a lot of emphasis pushing flu shots harder than ever, especially in healthcare settings. According to a blog post by Alan Ayers, …

As the Pandemic Stretches On, Consider Probing Patients for Alcohol Habits

There was fear in some quarters that the shutdown of many businesses and inhibited social life due to the COVID-19 pandemic would ultimately lead to increasing rates of depression, substance abuse, and suicide. For the most part, that has not come to fruition at this point. However, an article just released on JAMA Network Open indicates that alcohol consumption increased dramatically in the early months of social distancing. Quoting Nielsen data, the article reveals that …

Flu Shots Are Here, and a COVID-19 Vaccine May Not Be Far Behind. Do You Know What Your State Requires of You?

This is not going to be your typical flu season. At best, patients will flood healthcare facilities to get their flu shots early. The worst-case scenario is that they’ll shy away from immunization under the misguided assumption that it could leave them in a weakened state or expose them to people with COVID-19. Recognizing the overlap, as well as the reality that people who work in urgent care centers and other healthcare facilities are not …

Could COVID-19 Actually Be Driving Patients to Urgent Care? Some PCPs Seem to Think So

We all know urgent care took some hard knocks at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of testing supplies and patient fear added up to a serious drop in patient visits. What might not be so obvious is that other practice settings may have it even worse. A news report that aired on WTKR television in coastal Virginia/northeastern North Carolina recently revealed that some primary care practices perceive that they’re losing patients to urgent …

Miscommunication Can Be Deadly. Can Patients Understand You Through a Mask?

The nature of urgent care presents daily opportunities to provide care for patients you’ve never seen before and may never see again. The downside is there’s no history with such patients—and no chance to build rapport and establish the clear communication that comes from familiarity. Now remember that you’re speaking to each other through masks. Even if dosing is specified on that bottle of pain medication, did they hear you say it can only be …

Could More Opportunities for Urgent Care Partnerships Be a Silver Lining in the Pandemic?

Urgent care is coming back strong after initial setbacks at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, tests were in short supply. Then patients were afraid of visiting healthcare facilities in general unless it was a dire emergency, over concerns that they could get infected there. Visits plummeted. At the same time, of course, the retail business has been sustaining unprecedented economic damage. They’re rebounding, too, albeit more slowly than urgent care. Now the industries …

The ‘Kids Aren’t Affected by COVID-19’ Stance Gets Closer Scrutiny—with Surprising Results

As with all things related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the question of whether children are as prone to infection as adults—and their ability to transmit it—has been widely debated. As JUCM News readers know, there is evidence that asymptomatic children are more capable of transmitting the virus than some severely ill adults. On the other hand are data from a study just published in JAMA Pediatrics, indicating that the likelihood of younger patients infecting others …

Urgent Care Is Making Air Travel Safer—and the Country More Accessible—During the Pandemic

There’s no denying that Americans are not as free as we once were to travel around the country since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Many states have implemented rules stating that visitors from certain other states have to quarantine for a couple of weeks—or produce proof that they aren’t infected—before they’re permitted to interact with residents. While it’s debatable how enforceable those rules are, it’s certain they put a damper on plans for anything beyond essential …

Urgent Care Is Fighting to Ensure It Doesn’t Get Overlooked When COVID-19 Vaccine Is Ready

The urgent care industry got the short end of the stick in the early days of testing for COVID-19—which means urgent care patients were also left wanting for testing locations in too many areas. With the pandemic still raging and flu season approaching, the Urgent Care Association is working with the Convenient Care Association to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself when it comes to vaccination. The two organizations are trying to raise the volume on …