Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

PrEP Awareness Puts Some Populations at Greater Risk than Others. What Can You Do?

Low awareness of potentially lifesaving preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV may be leaving Black, Hispanic, and Latino patients at a disproportionate risk for illness and death compared with other patient populations according to an analysis of National HIV Prevention Program Monitoring and Evaluation data published recently by JAMA Network. Hispanic and Latino people make up 18% of the U.S. population but accounted for 29% of new U.S. HIV diagnoses between 2015 and 2019. Black Americans …

More People Are Trudging Off to Work on Site. Do You Know Who’s at Greatest Risk for COVID-19?

While some employers are content to maintain remote or hybrid work situations for their workers, either because of strong stances by those employees or out of ongoing concern for COVID-19, others are pushing to repopulate the expensive buildings they’re paying for. The concern, of course, is that more exposure to each other could equate to more exposure to COVID-19 and increased risk for disease among the work force. So far, however, the risk among office …

Here We Go Again: Walmart Takes Another Run at Succeeding as a Healthcare Destination

Walmart has been trying any number of tactics, for years, to become known as a reliable destination for immediate healthcare needs, essentially aspiring to become a rival of urgent care centers in their communities. As JUCM News readers know, one of their most recent efforts saw Walmart Health fail to land in 20 locations (which would have only constituted 0.004% of their 4,700 U.S. anyway). That was followed by a mass exodus by upper management …

Be Vigilant for Signs Adolescents Are Vaping Cannabis

Despite increased emphasis on public education on the dangers of vaping various substances, the “past 12 months” prevalence of cannabis vaping by adolescents more than doubled between 2013 and 2020 (from 6.1% to 13.6%) according to an article published by JAMA Pediatrics. The authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 17 unique studies from the United States and Canada, reflecting the experiences of 198,845 adolescents. They also discovered that preference for cannabis products seems …

Urgent Care Becomes Even More Appealing as Short-Staffed Primary Care Offices Take Weeks for Appointments

Efficiency and accessibility have always been two key attributes that set urgent care apart from traditional primary care. With primary care providers in short supply these days, however, some healthcare consumers are finding urgent care centers to be essential to meeting their needs. Action News Now reported the story of one such family in Redding, CA, who found it next-to impossible to find a new PCP for their 80-year-old matriarch who had recently relocated to …

Here Are Two More ‘Side Effects’ of COVID-19 Vaccine That Are Actually More Dangerous with the Virus

Research continues to support the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and to disprove the perceived likelihood of many dangers associated with them. Most recently, a Research Letter published by JAMA Network takes aim at the misperception that pregnant women who receive a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine are at increased risk for spontaneous abortion. Looking at 105,446 unique pregnancies at eight U.S. health systems, the researchers found that “among women with spontaneous abortions, the odds of COVID-19 vaccine exposure …

Vaccination of 5- to 11-Year-Olds Against COVID-19 Isn’t Just Approved—It’s Urgent

At this point, you’ve probably heard that the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that children 5- to 11-years-old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer pediatric vaccine. What may be news is the sense of urgency the CDC is exhibiting in sharing the news, with the agency suggesting in a statement that healthcare providers “begin vaccinating them as soon as possible.” While the perception of the public (and some public officials) …

Word Choice Can Help or Hinder the Odds of a Good Outcome with Patients Who Are Overweight

Many patients with diabetes loathe being called “diabetics” and people with autism may blanch at being called “autistic.” And studies, some reported on in JUCM News, have shown that the words a healthcare provider chooses actually influence outcomes. Using patient-first language (eg, “a patient with diabetes”) is a good first step toward a productive clinical relationship, whereas putting the disease first (“the diabetic patient”) can leave someone feeling demeaned or paint the clinician as uncaring, …

It Just Keeps Getting Clearer: Younger Patients Don’t Have Time for Traditional Primary Care

Generation Z and Millennial healthcare consumers are staying away from traditional primary care practices in ever-growing numbers according to new research by the communication firm R/GA. Future of Health Experiences reveals that 40% of Gen Z survey respondents said they visit a primary care provider either once a year “or never or rarely.” The same is true of around one third of Millennials. Rather, they’re more inclined to seek care the moment they need it, …

Don’t Find Out the Hard Way—Vaccination Status Should Not Influence Testing for COVID-19

We all know that COVID-19 vaccines (like all vaccines) are not 100% effective in preventing infection. And we’re still learning just how long protection can be expected to last. As such, patients with symptoms that could be attributed to SARS-CoV-2 should be tested for the virus regardless of their vaccination status. An urgent care operation in Michigan learned this the hard way after they declined to test a 74-year-old woman who presented with sinus congestion, …

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