Practice Management
Parents presenting with children whose symptoms are suspicious for acute otitis media (AOM) are aplenty in urgent care, as well as in other settings. Unfortunately, too many of those parents expect—or even demand—a prescription for an antibiotic before leaving. And, in fact, often they’ll get just that whether it’s truly warranted or not. An article just published in JAMA Pediatrics suggests it’s time to remind ourselves, collectively, that such a kneejerk reaction may not be …
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With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently adapting its stance on wearing masks in public to reduce risk for spreading COVID-19, urgent care operators are already using the new guidance to review their own practices and procedures. They’re also being encouraged to do so by fluctuations in patient volume. Tomah Health in Wisconsin, for example, is reopening its urgent care facility after closing it in January due to overwhelming COVID-19 cases in its …
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Urgent message: The depth of COVID-19 testing data specific to the pediatric urgent care market provides insights into the capability of the broader urgent care industry to play a significant role in public health in the United States. David J. Mathison, MD, MBA It’s easy to forget how 24 months ago the urgent care industry was amidst one of the worst influenza seasons in recent memory. Then in February 2020, the first cases of COVID-19 …
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Time was that retail shopping centers and other commercial spaces were off limits to urgent care operators searching for new locations. The presumption was that a medical facility would not only fail to attract foot traffic, but might even drive away shoppers who didn’t want to run into possibly contagious people on their way into Old Navy or coming out of Panera on their way back to work. Fast forward to 2022 and real estate …
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Just last week we shared the odd phenomenon that while many patients infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have escaped serious illness, daily deaths have increased since it became the dominant type of SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in patients 75 years of age and older. Now preliminary data released by BioRxiv indicates that it might not be Omicron so much as its recently discovered subvariant BA.2 that’s to blame. The researchers found that hamsters infected …
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Urgent care as an industry was on a steady growth path before February 2019. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that subsequent low patient volumes and getting shut out of early distribution of COVID-19 testing supplies and vaccinations, respectively, put a damper on expectations for further progress—but that’s not the case. In fact, urgent care operators’ collective resilience and creativity in adapting to changing conditions (such as setting up testing or vaccination events in parking …
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Patients who opt to receive the full complement of COVID-19 vaccine not only lower their risk for infection or serious illness if they do wind up getting sick, but also receive extra protection against long COVID, according to the results of a study released by the U.K. Health Security Agency. The report drew data from 15 studies in the United Kingdom and around the world. Seven of those studies looked at whether vaccination against COVID-19 …
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From Facebook rants to podcasts hosts to outlier physicians, there is a vocal minority of Americans who believe that ivermectin is a viable and underutilized therapy for patients with COVID-19. As is most often the case, that does not necessarily reflect the best evidence-based practice. JAMA Internal Medicine just published an article that could be helpful in separating fact from misinformation and disinformation. The study on which the article was based randomized subjects to receive …
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With the mainstream (and medical) media focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be easy to overlook the fact that everyday illness and injuries still occur. With most of the country experiencing winter temperatures, for example, that may be especially true of cold weather-related complaints right now. As noted in a report aired on KSDK TV in Missouri, urgent care will likely be the right setting for many such patients. That story featured quotes from …
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Respiratory sequelae may not be the only (or even the most dangerous) consequence of COVID-19 infection in patients with hypertension, atrial fibrillation, or any condition that puts them at elevated risk for ischemic stroke. According to data presented at the International Stroke Conference in New Orleans, as reported by Medscape, that risk is “significantly elevated” in the 3 days immediately following infection. The data were drawn from assessment of the cases of more than 19,000 …
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