Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Patients Who Left You During the Pandemic May Not Return Without an Invitation

As JUCM News has reported, many urgent care operators started suffering downturns in patient visits in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. It could be hard to get those patients back without a concerted effort on your part, according to an article just published by JAMA Network. The authors sought to determine the effect of targeted messaging on getting patients who had delayed care back into the doctor’s office, comparing sending a letter vs …

Could Dollar General Succeed Where Walmart Has Failed?

JUCM and JUCM News have been tracking Walmart’s unsuccessful efforts to become a go-to destination for their customers’ healthcare needs for years. The idea that shoppers would appreciate the convenience of getting a strep test or a flu shot where they buy tires simply hasn’t caught on among healthcare consumers. Now Dollar General apparently thinks it has a shot at getting the idea right among its acknowledged customer base of lower-income, largely rurally located Americans. …

Still Have Staffers Resisting COVID-19 Vaccination? Share These Data on Asymptomatic Infection

Anecdotally, it seems clear that there are too many healthcare professionals among the population resisting COVID-19 vaccination. A study just published by JAMA Network may be more persuasive than any workplace edict in getting them to opt for the best protection available. Researchers at the University of California Irvine evaluated rates of COVID-19 infection, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, before and after vaccination with the Pfizer or Moderna versions of the vaccine. Subjects were screened daily …

Unintended Consequences: Stay-at-Home Orders Are Being Linked to Opioid-Related Deaths

When Illinois issued stay-at-home orders back in March 2020, the obvious intent was to lower risk for transmission of COVID-19 and, ultimately, to save lives. By the time the order was lifted 11 weeks later, the state was wrestling with an unintended consequence of a higher rate of deaths attributed to opioid overdose. A Cook County-based study of such deaths, recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, revealed there were 23 fatalities …

‘Back to Normal’ Means Back to Community Outreach Initiatives

This summer may have kids heading back outside with greater enthusiasm than ever before. With that energy comes risk, however. West Texas Urgent Care is well aware of this—and the fact that Texas Medical Association data show nearly 85% of head injuries are the result of bicycle crashes—and has already launched a safety event for local cyclists. Visitors were invited to take part in a bicycle safety course that reminded them of the rules of …

Keep at It—Physician-Delivered Patient Ed Really Does Make a Difference (Especially with COVID-19)

With only 49% of the United States vaccinated against COVID-19 as of July 21, it can feel like your efforts to educate patients enough to protect themselves are in vain. New data published by the Journal of the American Medical Association says otherwise, however. In fact, it appears that messages delivered by physicians can actually help increase COVID-19 knowledge and even bridge the gap in health inequities among different racers in the U.S. Drawn from …

After the Pandemic Blues, Public Health Experts Fear an Onslaught of STD Cases

Last summer, and certainly the seasons that followed, had most Americans struggling with disruptions in the routines and isolated from their social norms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Young singles may have been especially frustrated with reduced opportunities to meet and mingle. Now, however, with mask mandates and social distancing restrictions largely a thing of the past, the dating seen is back in full force—with public health experts now seeming as worried about a surge …

As with Active COVID-19, Children Are NOT Immune to Long-term Symptoms Post Infection

It took a while for the general public—and even some clinicians—to accept that COVID-19 really is dangerous for children. While it’s true that fewer children died or experienced severe disease compared with adults, it’s now been shown that there is some degree of risk. And, of course, there’s always the danger that a child can infect an older person who is at great risk for a poor outcome. Likewise, it’s important to know that children, …

RSV Is Running Rampant in Infants and Toddlers Right Now. Are You Prepared?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s admonition that the southern portion of the United States could see a surge of respiratory syncytial virus cases this summer is coming to fruition as we speak—although the scope of the problem appears to be much broader than the CDC anticipated. While the southeast is leading the way in terms of number of cases, RSV (usually higher in the winter) is more prevalent than would be expected for …

Be Prepared: Patients Can Be ‘Over’ COVID-19 But Not Over the Symptoms—for a Long Time

So many patients have lingering symptoms after the SARS-CoV-2 virus has actually resolved that distinctive names have emerged: long-haul COVID-19, or post-COVID condition. Complaints can include those associated directly with the virus—eg, shortness of breath, body aches, fatigue—or an entirely new set that could include twitching muscles, racing heart, and various gastrointestinal problems. Be prepared to administer COVID-19 tests or antibody tests to rule out true infection. In addition, according to the Centers for Disease …