Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

The U.S. Is in Another Wave of COVID-19—the Sixth One, if You’ve Somehow Lost Track

After a few weeks of feeling like we’re moving in the right direction in winning the fight against COVID-19, it appears that the United States is instead sinking back into familiar, if unfortunate, territory. As noted by experts from Johns Hopkins, Duke, and Harvard universities quoted in a report from USA Today, however, indications are that we will fare far better than in summers past. For one thing, hospitalizations are lower than in previous waves, …

It’s Time to Get More Cautious About Spreading Virus (and We Don’t Mean COVID This Time)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just increased the alert level for monkeypox to 2, indicating that the risk of infection is high enough to warrant wearing a mask while traveling. The virus has been confirmed in this country after previously being reported in Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. While it has been reported that infection has occurred more frequently among men who have sex with men compared with other groups, spread …

An ‘Incidental’ Finding May Be Far More Threatening Than the Presenting Complaint

Patients are unlikely to seek ongoing care for high blood pressure at their closest urgent care center. That doesn’t mean it won’t be first identified there, though. And depending on the patient’s age and life expectancy, your ability to flag which patient’s hypertension needs attention and who wouldn’t benefit from treatment could mean a significant difference in the outcome. According to an article just published by JAMA Internal Medicine, intensive treatment for hypertension “may be …

Hospital Margins Are Sputtering While Urgent Care’s Recovery Continues

Many, if not most, healthcare operations have suffered along with other types of business since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the general public might assume hospitals are an exception, it’s becoming increasingly clear that healthcare systems in general are struggling as much as (if not more than) others. And even though we all know how hard urgent care has been hit over the past few years, a new report published by Healthcare Finance …

Physician Assistants Are an Essential Part of Your Team—So You’d Better Understand Their Priorities

Physician assistants and nurse practitioners (collectively referred to as advanced practice clinicians, or APCs) are becoming more and more essential to the efficient operation of an urgent care center. And with the likelihood of a physician shortage growing with each passing year, you can expect that to be the case for the foreseeable future. As such, you will want to hang on to the cream of the crop. Do you even know what your superstar …

Antibiotics Are No Help with Viruses. So Why Did Nearly a Third of COVID Visits End with a Prescription?

Recognizing that SARS-CoV-2 is a virus, there’s no way well-informed physicians would write prescriptions for antibiotics to help patients fight COVID-19—right? Wrong. According to a Research Letter published by JAMA Network, between April 2020 and April 2021, nearly 30% of COVID-19 outpatient visits in a Medicare population resulted in a prescription for an antibiotic agent. Prescriptions were highest in the emergency room (33.9%) followed by telehealth (28.4%), urgent care (25.8%), and traditional office practices (23.9%). …

Failing to Follow Proper Protocols Could Bring Headaches—and Affect Patient Outcomes

Failing to Follow Consultation Protocols Could Bring Headaches—and Affect Patient Outcomes An urgent care provider in Chillicothe, OH has been flagged by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General allegedly for failing to follow the prescribed consultation process. Per a post by EHR Intelligence, the OIG claims that the provider intended for a patient with a T12 vertebrae compression fracture to receive chiropractic care at the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) clinic. …

New Data Continue to Debunk COVID Vaccine Mis- and Disinformation

One of the more persistent baseless “warnings” about vaccination against the COVID-19 virus has been that getting the shot increases risk for (or even causes) myocarditis and other cardiological issues. JUCM Readers know that while early studies tended to contradict each other, ultimately the myocarditis myth has been busted. Now a new paper published by Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reveals that patients are more likely to develop cardiac complications in general after SARS-CoV-2 than …

Urgent Care Centers Can Reduce ED Referrals for CT Scans in Mild Head Injury with Integration of Brain Activity Biomarker

Urgent message: Referrals to the ED for CT scans were reduced when urgent care providers combined clinical judgement with EEG-based structural injury biomarker results. Such reductions could relieve the burden of referrals to EDs, minimize unnecessary radiation risk, yield better patient experience, and foster to potential cost savings. Tanvir Dara MD, FACEP; Elizabeth McCarty MD; Paul Meredith MD; Robert Mooney MD; David Porzio MD; and Alvaro Zeballos MD Citation: Dara T, McCarty E, Meredith P, …

Pediatric Elbow Fractures: A Clinical Review

Urgent message: Though the most common fracture seen in pediatric trauma patients, elbow fractures can be difficult to identify in younger patients. Familiarity with elbow anatomy, ossification centers, and fracture patterns is essential for optimal outcomes. Amy Grover, MD CASE VIGNETTE A 7-year-old previously healthy female presents to urgent care with a chief complaint of left elbow pain after a fall on outstretched arm. She had immediate pain, swelling and difficulty moving her arm. Her …