Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Don’t Let Anchoring Bias Sink Sound Decision-Making

Evidence is mounting that anchoring bias—getting “stuck” on patient-reported reasons for a visit to the extent that it affects decision-making or narrows the provider’s consideration of actual etiologies—is not only real but also a serious concern in clinical care. A study just published by JAMA Internal Medicine reveals that when patients presenting to an emergency room with shortness of breath included congestive heart failure on their self-reported history, physicians were less likely to assess for …

More Restrictive Abortion Laws May Cast Urgent Care in a New Role

The ultimate effects of new abortion laws being enacted or considered across the country have yet to be realized. That doesn’t mean the wheels of state legislatures aren’t spinning solutions to emerging challenges that could result, however—and urgent care is figuring significantly in at least some. In Pennsylvania, for example, the state senate unanimously passed a bill that would decriminalize the act of a parent surrendering an unharmed newborn at an urgent care center if …

Anemia in Seniors Could Have a Deceptively Simple Cause (If You Know to Look for It)

Consideration of possible causes of anemia in senior citizens would likely include significant illness such as chronic kidney disease, cancer, and ulcerative colitis along with much more benign concerns like vitamin B12 deficiency. Findings just reported online by the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest the explanation could be even simpler sometimes. Secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial (Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly, or ASPREE) including 19,114 subjects 65 years of …

Urgent Care Becomes More Appealing as Patients Stray from Traditional Provider Relationships

The ability to access healthcare at any single point of access is becoming less appealing to healthcare consumers, according to new research from Wolters Klewer. Rather, a trend toward “decentralized care based on demographic differences, cost-driven decision-making, and shifting trust in care providers and settings” is pushing them to less traditional sites like retail pharmacies and urgent care centers. The authors called urgent care a “preferred setting” based on the findings that 57% of women …

Pandemic Burnout May Be Waning—Making It All the More Important to Check in With Those Still Struggling

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic plunged many urgent care providers into the depths of burnout, there are signs that optimism may be resurging among healthcare professionals. According to a report published by Morning Consult, 58% of healthcare workers surveyed reported being optimistic about healthcare’s future while 61% reported that they’ve “mostly” been successful in coping with work stressors over the preceding 6 months. While that’s good news, the survey clearly indicates there’s …

Urgent Care Could Be seeing Even More STI Patients Thanks to Federal Budget Cuts. Are You Ready?

Ripple effects of the recent federal debt ceiling haggling could have significant effects on public health departments’ ability to test and treat patients for possible sexually transmitted infections, according to a report from CNN. All told, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to lose approximately $1.3 billion in funding, according to the report, with local health outreach programs, including those related to STIs, expected to take an especially heavy hit. Given the already …

Would a Physician Assistant by Any Other Name Add Any More or Less Value to Your UC Operation?

Physician assistants and nurse practitioners (known collectively as advanced practice providers, or APPs) provide significant care in UCCs across the country. Given that they typically are paid less than physicians while also having the training to perform relatively complex tasks, many view them as indispensable to the success of an urgent care center. It should be of interest, then, that a movement has been afoot for several years now for PAs to change their title …

The Texas Urgent Care Landscape Is Changing in a Big Way This Summer

Baylor Scott and White Health, the largest nonprofit health system in Texas, is making a major effort to increase its presence in the urgent care marketplace by bringing 41 NextCare locations into the fold. As reported by D magazine, the move will break new markets including Abilene, San Antonio, and Houston for BSWH, which currently operates eight branded UCCs in the state. Branding for the new locations is yet to be made public. The partnership …

Wait Times Are Out of Hand at Some Hospital ED’s. Patients Need to Know Your UC Is an Alternative

It’s not news that patients are very likely to wait longer to see a provider in a hospital emergency room than in an urgent care center. That’s why UC continues to thrive. It may come as a surprise to learn exactly how long patients wait in some EDs, though. According to an article published by Becker’s Hospital Review, during a recent survey period the average ED wait time was nearly 8 hours (476 minutes) at …

‘Location, Location, Location’ May Be a Higher Priority for Patients Than You Think

Urgent care providers and operators are primarily (and appropriately) concerned with the quality of the care they provide. Having gravitated to urgent care, it’s likely they also care deeply about efficiency and cost. One factor that may draw (or dissuade) patients could be hovering under the radar, however. According to an article published on REjournals.com, location is right up there with service and quality when patients are choosing among healthcare facilities to visit. In fact, …

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