Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

HbA1c Improves For Those Using AI App That Predicts Glucose Response

An artificial intelligence (AI) tool combined with real-time biometric tracking and human coaching produced significant clinical improvements for adults with type 2 diabetes in a Cleveland Clinic study published in NEJM Catalyst. The intervention delivered personalized nutrition and lifestyle guidance through an AI-powered app that analyzed health data from wearable sensors and devices, which monitored blood glucose, weight, blood pressure, activity, and sleep. App recommendations were then based on predicted glucose responses to meals. The …

VillageMD Spun Off Separately in Privately Held Walgreens Sycamore Portfolio

After months of restructuring, Walgreens Boots Alliance is now a private company following its acquisition by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, according to an announcement. Part of the deal includes the majority investment in Village Medical/Village MD’s healthcare offerings. The entire portfolio will now operate as 5 standalone companies: Walgreens; The Boots Group; Shields Health Solutions; CareCentrix; and VillageMD. Each will continue to function independently, retaining their existing brands. The total Sycamore Partners transaction value …

COVID Vaccines Approved For 2025-2026 Respiratory Virus Season

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved 3 COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming flu season. However, key restrictions that differ from years past include: fewer vaccine options for the youngest pediatric population; and generally no eligibility for those ages 5-64 who are healthy and not high-risk. In addition, FDA revoked emergency use authorizations for the vaccines, which had included a lower-dose option for children ages 6 months to 4 years. Announcements were posted …

ACOG Recommends Moms Get COVID Vaccines

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has released clinical guidance for vaccination during pregnancy to protect against influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19—at least some of which is in contrast to what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have recently framed up for the forthcoming cold-and-flu season. Specifically, ACOG recommends that all women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or nursing should receive …

Chronic Infant Mortality Leads Miss. To Declare Unusual Public Health Emergency

Mississippi health officials this week declared a public health emergency after new data showed the state’s infant mortality rate has soared. In 2024, 9.7 infants died for every 1,000 live births, up from 8.9 in 2023 and nearly double the national average of 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the state. Since 2014, 3,527 infants in Mississippi have died before their first birthday. Officials say the declaration will speed up efforts to expand …

AI Scribes Reduce Clinician Burnout By 21%, Improve Well-Being By 30%

Using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate notes to document patient visits was linked to improvements in clinician burnout, as published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers surveyed 1,430 clinicians from 2 different health systems who used ambient documentation technology. They found physicians at Mass General Brigham reported a 21.2% absolute reduction in burnout with the tools, as the proportion of clinicians reporting burnout decreased from 50.6% to 29.4% at 42 days and from 52.6% to 30.7% …

ED Visits Shorter, But Volume Set To Increase 8% By 2035

Emergency department (ED) visits in the United States appear to be improving when comparing length-of-stay numbers year-over-year, according to a recent analysis tracking utilization trends. The report examines visit duration in 4-quarter increments, showing the ED length of stay from Q2 2023 through Q1 2024 averaged 5 hours, compared to 4.2 hours in the period from Q2 2024 through Q1 2025. This represents a 16.2% reduction in length of stay. Meanwhile, the inpatient admission rate …

Videos By Your Kid’s Physician May Encourage Pediatric Flu Vaccination

When a physician recommends an important health service, patients are more apt to listen, aren’t they? Maybe not. A randomized clinical trial of more than 22,233 patients published in JAMA Network Open tested whether personalized physician videos or infographics could raise the uptake of influenza vaccinations for adults and children. As it turned out, in the 2023-2024 respiratory virus season, vaccination rates were similar across groups: 46.9% with usual care, 48.0% with video, and 47.5% …

High COVID Positivity in August Sheds Light on Seasonality Trends

According to detailed state-level data collected by Experity across urgent care centers, Texas (30.9%) and Utah (30.8%) are leading the nation in COVID-19 positivity rates through August 18, 2025. Summer’s big picture, dating back to June 1, shows the 7-day positivity rate overall has grown from 5% to 20% for U.S. urgent cares—a rate that is lower than this time last year. Positivity rates in 2024 peaked at 31.3% in August, according to Experity. With …

AAP Recommends Kids Get COVID Vaccines

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) this week released an immunization schedule including evidence-based guidance for COVID-19 vaccines for children and adolescents. What some see as controversial, however, is the fact that the AAP schedule doesn’t align with recent government agency announcements. Specifically, AAP recommends the COVID vaccine for all children 6 months to 23 months of age as well as older children who are in several risk groups. By contrast, the latest Food and …

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