Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Patterns Emerge as Flu Season Progresses—Know What (and Who) to Look for

In an ordinary year, this would be early to start recognizing trends in the influenza season. Sadly, this is not an ordinary year, however, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says an early start to flu season is hitting more of the most vulnerable patients than ever. Numbers are up across the board, but those over age 64 and under age 4 are being afflicted disproportionately at this point (3.6 cases per 100,000 …

With HIV No Longer in the Spotlight, Testing, Treatment, and Prevention Are Declining

The good news is that HIV no longer equates to a death sentence. The bad news is that its status as a treatable disease has caused many people to stop paying attention to it altogether—to the extent that they no longer see the need for prevention and testing. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14% of people with HIV were unaware they had it until it was discovered secondary to …

Massachusetts Bill Aims to Define Urgent Care—and Mandate Licensing

Among the key points in the healthcare bill introduced by Massachusetts Governor Charles Baker are efforts to settle on a core definition of urgent care, but also steps to require urgent care centers to be “licensed” by the state and provide mental health services, meet certain primary care standards, and accept MassHealth members. Those elements of the bill, H. 4134, are a nod to the growing influence of urgent care (and retail clinics) in Massachusetts, …

Don’t Let Flu Season Distract You from the Growing Measles Crisis

It’s likely your patients have been so inundated with flu shot messaging that they don’t know the entire world, including the U.S., is in the midst of one of the worst years for measles infection in decades. At the same time, and certainly not coincidentally, vaccination rates are stagnating worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Measles infected nearly 10 million people around the world in 2018, according to the WHO, but the number of …

NPR Opinion Piece Is a Cold Reminder: Too Many Patients Are Languishing in the ED

How long do you think a patient with chest pain would sit in your waiting room before getting the attention and care they needed? Your answer is probably measured in minutes, as it should be. Certainly it would be less than 47 hours, which is how long one patient waited in the hallway of an ED before space was available in the cardiac unit of a Boston hospital. That clearly is an extreme case, and …

Study: Millions of Young Athletes Head to the ED When Injured; Why Not Urgent Care?

According to a new study by the National Center for Health Statistics, over the past 6 years 2.7 million athletes between the ages of 5 and 24 have been treated for injuries in hospital emergency rooms; that’s nearly half a million patients every year. Some of them really belong there, of course, but it’s likely that most could be treated more quickly, less expensively, and at least as safely in your urgent care center. If …

New AMA Guidance Could Help You Appeal to More LGBTQ Patients

Patients who identify as lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, or queer are often underserved when it comes to healthcare. The reasons are many, and include the (often well-founded) perception that they will not be treated with respect; that most healthcare providers are not well-versed in issues particular to the LBGTQ population; and that even the forms all patients have to fill out fail to recognize their gender identity. The American Medical Association is taking steps toward …

Will Placing Urgent Care Centers in Big Malls Mean Big Revenue?

Retail drugstore clinics have been knocked for offering such limited services, at least compared with urgent care centers. On the other hand, the wisdom of giving patients even easier access to healthcare services in a setting they’re visiting anyway is undeniable. So, some major healthcare organizations are making commitments to offer higher-acuity services in large shopping malls. First, M Health Fairview opened a walk-in clinic at Mall of America in Minnesota—the first such facility in …

CDC Ponies Up $1.8 Million for an Urgent Care-Based Antibiotic Initiative

Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health have received a $1.8 million contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct an antibiotic stewardship program in their urgent care centers. Around 700,000 patients visit Intermountain urgent care centers annually, with the number continuing to climb every year. The first step in the initiative will be trying to refine how patients view prescriptions themselves. For example, more patients who come in expecting to get …