Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Not Seeing Enough Adolescents Show Up for COVID-19 Shots? Stress the Social Benefits

Just weeks after the Food and Drug Administration extended the Emergency Use Authorization on COVID-19 immunization to include children ages 12 and up, rapidly accumulating data that should drive parents to get their kids vaccinated is just not having that effect. While the number of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 and its complications is still higher than it is for younger people, the rate of hospitalizations for adults has plateaued while it’s slowly increasing for adolescents—likely …

It’s Not Too Early to Start Looking at the Next Flu Season—and It’s Not a Pretty Picture

As reported in JUCM News previously, mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing through much of the COVID-19 pandemic not only saved lives with regard to that virus, but had the side benefit of protecting the public against influenza. Rates of flu infection, hospitalization, and death were lower than they’ve been in years during the 2020-21 season. The fear among public health officials and experts now is that flu rates could come back with a vengeance once …

Colorado Is Paying Freestanding EDs to Shut Down. Is This a Sign of Things to Come?

Freestanding emergency rooms have been the bane of many urgent care operator’s existence—and a source of outrage for patients who wind up getting stuck with a hefty and unexpected bill after seeking care at such facilities. Legislative bodies in multiple states have taken steps to prevent freestanding ED operators from hitting patients with surprise bills while trying to mandate price transparency, but Colorado has done them one step better. The state is incentivizing administrators to …

Trust in the COVID-19 Vaccines Is Growing—Take Advantage for the Sake of Your Patients and Your Business

As we’ve told you, the public’s enthusiasm for the COVID-19 vaccines was surprisingly muted once the initial excitement over their availability wore off. Doubt over their safety, especially regarding possible long-term effects, has kept too many people from getting the shot even though it’s the one definitive act that could help bring the pandemic to a close. An article just published by the Journal of the American Medical Association brings good news, however; as more …

Lyme Disease May Be the Least of Our Concerns as Tick Season Approaches

Every time this year, public health departments in areas where ticks flourish seasonally sound the alarm for residents to check themselves, their children, and their pets for ticks. Often, especially on the East Coast, concern centers on Lyme disease. According to an article published in The Washington Post, however, a seldom-discussed tick-borne illness called babesiosis that carries a death rate of up to 20% in immunocompromised patients could be of greater concern. The piece recounts …

Employers—Including Urgent Care Operators—Have Tough Choices Ahead Post Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic forced every institution we take for granted to discover new ways of doing things that would not only be safe, but also allow operations to proceed as “normally” as possible. Besides trying to keep the workforce safe, childcare became a serious issue as kids learned from their bedrooms instead of in their schoolrooms for months (or longer). Some industries found this easier than others; accountants might be able to thrive from a …

Is It Time for Urgent Care to Consider Offering More Behavioral Health Services?

The COVID-19 pandemic has put us all to a test. Urgent care operators have had to be creative in finding new approaches to offering care while keeping workers safe, and ensuring that patients have felt as comfortable as possible visiting when they need same-day medical attention. There’s a secondary price to pay for all that vigilance, though: The stress and fear that accompanied the pandemic have taken a toll on our collective mental and emotional …

Recent Cyberattacks Should Be a Reminder: Prevention Is Far Less Costly Than Regret

When Scripps Health was hit by a cyberattack a few weeks ago, it sent workers scrambling to ascertain the security of sensitive patient health information, company files, and other protected or proprietary data. It’s also likely that the event shook the company’s sense of its own security, probably leaving some with a PTSD-like sense of dread. Needless to say, it also disrupted care at the hospitals and urgent care centers affected. While Scripps has been …

As COVID-19 Limitations Relax, Urgent Care Looks at Returning to Pre-Pandemic Norms

Mask mandates, capacity limits, and social distancing suggestions are starting to fall by the wayside across the country, leading urgent care operators to reconsider operational changes they may have instituted at the height of the pandemic. As JUCM News readers know, many urgent care centers diverted patients to alternate locations so resources could be dedicated to COVID-19 testing or other related activities. Now, however, Western Sierra Medical Clinic in California, Fayetville Urgent Care in Arkansas, …

Febrile Seizure: An Urgent Care Overview

Urgent message: While alarming to parents, febrile seizures in children typically are benign and self-limited. However, the possibility of a life-threatening etiology mandates that the urgent care provider determine the type of seizure and employ appropriate assessments based on factors specific to each case. Tiffany Addington, MD CASE A previously healthy 3-year-old boy presented to urgent care after having a seizure at home. He had a fever that morning and was given ibuprofen. His mother …

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