Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

As Flu Rates Climb, So Have Health-Related Absences for Providers (This Is Good News)

We’re fairly sure you recommend that sick patients stay home until they’re feeling better and, just as important, they’re no longer at risk of making their coworkers sick. This has never been more essential than during the recent severe flu seasons in the U.S. Fortunately, according to data just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more sick providers stayed home until they’d recovered than in recent years. In fact, health-related workplace absenteeism …

For the First Time in Decades, Opioid Overdose Deaths Are Down—but the Fight Continues

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just reported that deaths attributed to opioid overdose declined by 5% between 2017 and 2018—the first time they’ve fallen from one year to the next since 1990. This is no time for urgent care providers to rest on their laurels, however; the CDC says more than 68,000 people died from fatal drug overdoses in the United States last year. That’s still higher than the peak annual deaths from …

UCA Webinar: Ab Pain is a Vexing Complaint; an Evidence-Based Approach Can Save Lives

Patients complaining of abdominal pain in the urgent care center may be as common as they are concerning. Most of the time the cause will be relatively benign—but those that aren’t can go very badly very quickly. Consequently, the Urgent Care Association asked Michael Nelson, PA-C to host a webinar featuring the best, newest available literature on the subject. Evidence-Based Approach to Abdominal Pain in Urgent Care is scheduled for Thursday, August 1st at 1 …

Data Breaches Cost $2.2 Million Per Event; Prevention Could Save Your Business

Data breaches cost the United States healthcare system $6.2 billion in 2016, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Breaking the numbers down to the facility level over the entire survey period (2016–2018), HHS notes the average cost to each healthcare organization that experienced a breach was $2.2 million. If you haven’t been hit with a breach, consider yourself extremely lucky; roughly 80% of physicians have. HHS recommends taking …

Hurricane Barry Shut Down Urgent Care Centers—a Reminder That You Need a Disaster Plan

As predictions of high winds and flooding made headlines over the weekend, Louisiana urgent care centers who expected to see the brunt of the storm did their best to spread the word that they’d be closing up shop until the most dangerous conditions subsided. Local media carried reports of what healthcare facilities in general would be accessible, and operations such as Lafayette General Health got the word out through social media, as well, including updates …

Be Aware: West Nile ‘Season’ Is Starting Early, and It Could Be a Bad One

Half the states in the U.S. have already reported cases of West Nile virus this year. While the total number of cases is only 39, the concerning part is that West Nile “season” is generally considered to be the entire month of August. The fact that it’s already on the radar of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could be a sign that it will be a heavy year. The type of disease identified …

CDC Needs Your Help with Acute Flaccid Myelitis

Cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) have not matched recent outbreaks of influenza and measles in numbers or potential for fatalities, but may be more confounding for physicians and public health officials for one simple reason: While we understand flu and measles and have a bead on why more cases are occurring, AFM continues to be somewhat of a mystery. With the peak season (late summer into early autumn) for new cases of AFM approaching, …

Stewardship Efforts Really Do Lower Overuse of Antibiotics—and That Can Save Lives

JUCM, the Urgent Care Association, the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, and countless state and local health agencies have been beating the “antibiotic stewardship” drum for quite some time now, as data continue to show the high prevalence of drug-resistant organisms (and the equally high cost, in terms of resultant hospitalizations and deaths). New data from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) show awareness and stewardship interventions can be effective in curbing inappropriate use …

Want to Ease Your Patients’ Worries? Take a Vacation

Readers of JUCM News may recall that the World Health Organization officially declared burnout to be a “workplace phenomenon” recently. Now a study conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reveals something that is arguably even more alarming: 74% of Americans—your patients—are worried that the healthcare providers treating them could be suffering from burnout. An even higher percentage (80%) believe that burnout diminishes the quality of care an …

Primary Care Shortage Could Further Set Urgent Care Apart—for Better or Worse

First, the irrefutable statistics: The percentage of primary care positions filled by fourth-year medical students this year was the lowest ever (41%), according to the 2019 National Resident Matching Program. Given that this year also saw the highest number of primary care openings on record (8,116), the potential for a serious shortfall is more than evident. For purposes of categorizing subspecialties, the Match considers “primary care” to encompass internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics—notably, not …