Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Urgent Care ‘Physician Assistants’ Today, ‘Physician Associates’ Tomorrow?

In the eyes of many, physician assistants and nurse practitioners (known collectively as advanced practice providers, or APPs) have become indispensable members of the urgent care clinical team. Given that they work under a lower pay scale than physicians, it’s possible for an urgent care operator to hire more APPs than physicians, thereby increasing the productivity of the practice without a corresponding jump in payroll—and reserving more of the physician’s time for the highest-acuity patients. …

The CDC Has Seen the Light and Is Counting on Urgent Care to Boost COVID-19 Immunization

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking its jurisdictions to work with urgent care operators and hospital emergency rooms to allocate and administer COVID-19 vaccine in an effort to equalize disparities in adult immunization. In its monthly letter to the 64 jurisdictions, which are dispersed throughout the U.S. and its territories, the agency noted that “with 50% of the U.S. population visiting either an emergency department of urgent care facility annually, these access …

There Are a Lot of Misperceptions About HIPAA and COVID-19 Vaccination Status. This May Help

As states allow public venues and private businesses to relax standards regarding attendance and social distancing, the question of who is vaccinated and who is not is becoming more prevalent—and more contentious. Some athletic stadiums have established special sections where people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (and who can prove it with a vaccine “passport”) can sit closer together, forego masks, and even enjoy different concession-stand items than their unvaccinated peers. This has raised …

Tell Vaccine-Hesitant Patients: U.S.-Approved COVID-19 Shots Protect Against Variants

It’s been more than 5 months since the first COVID-19 vaccine received an Emergency Use Authorization. Early supply chain challenges have been worked out, for the most part, so most adults have ready access to the vaccine, which costs nothing to receive. And yet, as of May 20, less than half the U.S. population ages 18 years and older is fully vaccinated. As you undoubtedly know, many of those who have declined so far either …

National Vaccination Rates Can Be Misleading—Especially for Those Traveling Across the U.S.

As JUCM News readers know, national COVID-19 vaccination rates are hovering just below 50%—progress, to be sure, but a figure indicating that we have a long way to go. It’s essential to bear in mind, however, as we head toward summer vacation season, that a national “average” encompasses states with the highest vaccination rates and those where too many people remain unvaccinated. The Associated Press just published an article noting that the percentage of vaccinated …

With Kids Returning to School, It’s Time to Revisit Urgent Care’s Role in Providing On-Site Care

School nurses have their hands full on a good day, but the COVID-19 pandemic has added layers of responsibility for temperature taking, educating the educators on protocols for the virus, figuring out which children could have been exposed to which family whose father was just diagnosed with the virus…. Even with many states announcing plans to return to “normal” in the fall, it’s likely that precautions (and certainly concerns) will continue for the foreseeable future. …

New Data Reveal What’s Really at the Root of Clinician Burnout—and It’s Not the EHR

Burnout is an ongoing problem in urgent care and other practice environments. It’s been exacerbated since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know this already. But JAMA Network Open just published new data that shed light on the biggest culprits, which in turn could give you a leg up on helping your providers maintain a healthy perspective and peak productivity. According to the article, based on a cross-sectional study of 1,310 clinicians, gender and …

The COVID-19 Vaccine Trendline Isn’t Pretty and Herd Immunity Is Nowhere in Sight. Can Urgent Care Save the Day?

As states start softening or dropping restrictions on the number of people who can gather inside and out, and even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking at where and when masks should be considered “essential,” a disturbing trend threatens to blow up all the progress that’s been made in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past month, there’s been a steady decline in the number of people making visits strictly to get …

Will Telehealth Finally Help Walmart Grab a Viable Spot in the Healthcare Marketplace?

As JUCM and JUCM News readers know, Walmart has taken any number of stabs at trying to establish a successful healthcare business (all to no avail, at this point). Having failed to gain traction with physical Walmart Health locations, they’ve now gone the virtual route by acquiring telehealth provider MeMD and parted ways with a number of Walmart Health senior executives in the process. Whether you view the latest move as evolution in its strategy …

Sour Grapes or a Breach of Ethics (and Patient Trust)? Either Way, Whistleblower Charges Sting

A New York City urgent care operator is being sued by a former employee who says he was instructed by upper management to over-dilute COVID-19 vaccine in order to stretch the supply, and subsequently fired when he and other employees complained about the alleged scheme. The company, which runs several vaccination sites in the borough of Queens, denies issuing any such instructions to its vaccinators. What’s alleged, however, is that they were told to use …

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