Urgent message: Though not considered as at “at risk” for severe disease with COVID-19, children have suffered significant disruptions to educational and personal activities throughout the pandemic. Recognizing urgent care’s role in testing for the virus could show benefit for families and urgent care centers alike. Rita P. Nunag, MD; Francesca M. Darquea, MD; Claire Loiselle; and Magdy W. Attia, MD Citation: Nunag RP, Darquea FM, Loiselle C, Attia MW. COVID-19 testing pattern in a …
Read MoreYou Got Through Thanksgiving—Now It’s Time for the Aftermath of COVID-19 Testing
With Thanksgiving family get-togethers over, college kids have gone back to campus and younger children are back in class, ready to share not only amusing holiday anecdotes but new cases of COVID-19, as well. Elementary schools in some areas are already reporting a jump in new cases compared with weeks leading up to the long weekend, practically ensuring that more cases will follow as the 14-day incubation period unfolds. Some state and local health departments …
Read MoreRemind Patients (and Staff): Those COVID-19 Precautions Everyone Complains About Actually Work
There continue to be individuals walking among us who don’t believe that the COVID-19 vaccine is effective and safe. And probably even more who don’t think wearing a mask reduces risk of infection. If patients or staff complain to you that it’s all overkill with no benefit to be had, share the results of two new studies indicating that both vaccination and mask wearing are effective tools to slow the spread of the virus. (This …
Read MoreJust When You Thought You Had Your Pandemic Processes Down, Here Comes the Omicron Variant
As of this writing, the United States has just confirmed its first case of COVID-19 attributed to the Omicron variant. Seeing how there was a time when we were saying the same thing about the SARS-CoV-2 virus in general—and then the Delta variant—let’s assume many more are on the horizon. The World Health Organization has called it a “variant of concern,” at least partly due to the fact that it has a higher number of …
Read MoreThe COVID-19 Pandemic Has Exacerbated the Opioid Epidemic—and It’s About to Get Worse
Well before the COVID-19 virus reached pandemic proportions, opioid abuse and related overdoses and deaths had been declared an epidemic in the United States. However, thanks to factors such as social isolation, economic instability, fear over disease, and reduced access to health resources, drug overdoses have reached historic levels over the past 2 years—to the point that more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses over the 12-month period ending in April 2021, according to the …
Read MoreAre You Open for Patients on Thanksgiving—and More Importantly, Do They Know That?
Most Americans with typical jobs will be at home or visiting loved ones (possibly for the first time in years) over Thanksgiving weekend. Urgent care professionals do not have typical jobs, of course, so it’s possible that many will be reporting to work ready to care for patients who can’t wait for other medical practices to open and really don’t need to go to the hassle and expense of going to the emergency room for …
Read MoreCVS Is Closing 900 Stores. Does That Reflect a Decline in the Retail Health Model?
CVSHealth says it’s going to close roughly 300 stores a year over the next 3 years—almost 10% of its locations across the country—in what it claims is a reaction to changing customer preferences. The company says it is also going to try new formats for its stores. Some will be “traditional” pharmacies that also offer retail products and some healthcare services ; others will still attempt to offer primary care services. While new versions of …
Read MoreWarning: Failure to Maintain Safe COVID-19 Vaccine Storage and Procedures Could Cost You
A Colorado urgent care operator has been suspended from participating in the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program after an unannounced site inspection revealed “irregularities” ranging from the manner in which the vaccine was stored, high vaccine wastage, and inappropriate administration to patients outside of the recommended age group. To make matters worse, the state now considers any vaccinations administered at the now-suspended clinics to be invalid; patients who got their shots there will have to receive …
Read MoreCOVID-19 Boosters Are OK’d for All Adults—but Is It Too Late to Prevent a Post-Holiday Spike?
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention following the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to allow COVID-19 booster shots for all individuals over the age of 18, urgent care providers are emboldened to take the next step in their efforts to offer added protection to patients who completed their initial immunization at least 6 months ago. The CDC also strengthened a recommendation that everyone over the age of 50 should get …
Read MoreAre Some Ethnic Groups Really Getting Hit Harder by COVID-19—or Is It More Complicated Than That?
It’s been observed in numerous studies (some reported on by JUCM News) that some ethnic groups have fared better than others throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The issue of why that could be is a bit more complex, although a study just published by JAMA Network Open might suggest some answers. First, the data confirm the fact that African American, Hispanic, and Asian-American individuals have been more likely to test positive for and to be admitted …
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