Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Urgent Care News

LLMs Save Time For ED Discharge

LLMs Save Time For ED Discharge Notes

When using a large language model (LLM) assistant for generating emergency department (ED) discharge notes …
Read More
Oak Street Clinic Closures

Cost-Of-Care Pressure Leads To Oak Street Clinic Closures

CVS Health plans to close 16 Oak Street Health centers, representing about 7% of its …
Read More
New Hot Flash Drug

New Drug Relieves Hot Flashes In Menopausal Women

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the oral drug elinzanetant for the treatment of …
Read More
Antivirals For Flu During Pandemic

Fewer Kids Received Antivirals For Flu During Pandemic Years

In a cross-sectional study of 3,378 influenza-positive children across 7 U.S. pediatric hospitals, researchers found …
Read More
Insurers Automatically Reduce Pay

Insurers Automatically Reduce Pay For Some E/M Codes 

Several large health insurers are drawing provider backlash for relatively new payment policies that reduce …
Read More

Original Research 

COVID-19 Antiviral Prescribing In Urgent Care

COVID-19 Antiviral Prescribing In Urgent Care By Patient Ethnicity

Urgent Message: This study confirms variable prescription rates among different ethnicities in Aotearoa, New Zealand, …
Read More
Short Course Systemic Glucocorticoid Prescribing in Urgent Care Clinics

Analysis of Short Course Systemic Glucocorticoid Prescribing in Urgent and Convenient Care Clinics

Urgent Message: Across a tristate urgent care and convenient care network, systemic steroid use occurred …
Read More
HIV Screening in the Urgent Care

Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Citation: Hunt E, Greger M, Shipley N. Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality …
Read More
Asthma in Pediatric Urgent Care

Brief Report: A Pilot Quality and Feasibility Project Focusing on Clinician Use of an Order Set for Acute Asthma Care in Pediatric Urgent Care Centers

Urgent Message: There are limited data on implementation and use of clinical decision support tools …
Read More
Cephalexin for Uncomplicated Cystitis

Comparing Outcomes for Outpatients Treated With Cephalexin for Uncomplicated Cystitis: Is QID Dosing Necessary?

Urgent Message: Patients commonly seek unscheduled care for urinary tract infections (UTIs). Cephalexin is among …
Read More

Clinical 

Shortness of Breath in Pregnancy in Urgent Care

Shortness of Breath in Pregnancy: Differentiating Physiology from Pathology in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: As shortness of breath and edema are common in pregnancy, urgent care clinicians must distinguish patients with normal …
Read More
Sexually Transmitted Infections in Urgent Care

United States Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Comprehensive Overview and Relevance To Urgent Care Centers

Urgent Message: Patients frequently utilize urgent care centers for testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. All clinicians can be …
Read More
Postpartum Shortness of Breath

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Shortness of Breath

Urgent Message: Shortness of breath presentations for postpartum patients in urgent care should prompt consideration of venous thromboembolism or peripartum …
Read More
Nerve Block for Headache

Blocking the Pain: Nerve Block in the Treatment of Headache in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: Although greater occipital nerve block has demonstrated positive effectiveness and few risks as a treatment for acute headache, …
Read More

Practice Management 

Standard of Care

What Does ‘Standard of Care’ Mean from a Legal Compliance Perspective?

Urgent Message: Urgent care centers are not required to deliver the “best possible care” but rather an “acceptable” level of …
Read More
Trash Disposal Urgent Care Liability

What is an Urgent Care Operator’s Liability Concerning Trash Disposal?

Urgent Message: Medical and non-medical waste produced by urgent care centers must be handled in accordance with federal, state, and …
Read More
Red Flags When Selling Your Urgent Care

Red Flags When Selling Your Urgent Care Practice

Urgent Message: Offers to buy urgent care centers typically follow due diligence processes, and the assets are valued within predictable …
Read More
Mental Health Urgent Care

Mental Health Urgent Care: Bridging the Gap in Crisis Care

Urgent Message: Meridian Health’s Mental Health Urgent Care service addresses the gap between outpatient therapy and hospitalization. As a way …
Read More

CASE REPORTS

Cardiopulmonary Debut of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

A Rare Cardiopulmonary Debut of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Pediatric Case Report

Urgent Message: In adolescents presenting with persistent chest pain and systemic symptoms, clinicians should maintain a …
Read More
Back Pain From Prostate Cancer

Back Pain From Vertebral Metastases in Prostate Cancer: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Persistent, non-mechanical back pain should raise suspicion for non-muscular causes, and in this case, …
Read More
Severe Iron Deficiency Anemia

Severe Iron Deficiency Anemia Presenting with Fever and Gastrointestinal Complaints: A Pediatric Case Report

Urgent Message: While the evaluation of a chief complaint is a priority in urgent care, recognition …
Read More
High-Pressure Paint Gun Finger Injury

High-Pressure Paint Gun Finger Injury: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While the initial clinical presentation of a high-pressure paint gun injury may not elicit …
Read More
Neck Pain Spinal Epidural Abscess

When Neck Pain Arises From Spinal Epidural Abscess: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Though atraumatic neck pain is a common condition in the urgent care setting, spinal …
Read More

Download Past Issues

SOB in Pregnancy in the Urgent Care Setting

November 2025: Common Pregnancy Complaints: Normal or a Serious Condition?

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

JUCM CAREER CENTER

CLINICAL IMAGE CHALLENGES

Anterior mediastinal mass X-ray

21-Year-Old Male With Cough and Night Sweats

Differential Diagnosis Thoracic aortic aneurysm Pericardial cyst Anterior mediastinal mass Metastatic disease Lipoma or liposarcoma Diagnosis The anteroposterior chest x-ray …
Read More
Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) with aberrancy

60-Year-Old With Palpitations

Figure 2: RSR’ in V2 indicated here (*) as well as the deep S-wave in V6 (^) Differential Diagnosis Ventricular …
Read More
Acute Meningococcemia

A 16-Year-Old Male With Rash to Legs, Altered Mental Status and Fever

Differential Diagnosis Viral exanthem Acute meningococcemia Immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis Infectious Mononucleosis Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) Diagnosis The correct diagnosis …
Read More
Hamate Fracture in Urgent Care

24-Year-Old Male Hand Pain After a Golf Game

Differential Diagnosis Hamate fracture Fractures and/or dislocations of other carpal bones Distal radial fracture Metacarpal fracture Wrist sprain Hypothenar hammer …
Read More
Atrial Flutter with Variable Conduction

60-Year-Old With 2 Weeks of Dyspnea

Differential Diagnosis Atrial fibrillation Atrial flutter with 2:1 conduction Atrial flutter with variable conduction ST-elevation myocardial infarction Ventricular pre-excitation Diagnosis …
Read More

Revenue Cycle Management

Mastering Revenue Cycle Management

Mastering Revenue Cycle Management

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Revenue cycle management (RCM) may not be the most glamorous part of urgent …
Read More
ICD-10 Changes for Urgent Care

ICD-10 Changes Impacting Urgent Care in 2025

Tricia Krueger, CPC, is RCM Coding Supervisor for Experity. ICD-10 has been ever changing since it was first adopted 10 …
Read More
Timely Filing

Timely Filing: What Every Practice Needs to Know

Nikki Benedict Timely filing is a critical concept in medical billing that directly impacts claim reimbursement. Despite its importance, the …
Read More
Credentialing

Credentialing: The Gatekeeper of Access and Reimbursement

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC In the healthcare ecosystem, credentialing is more than a bureaucratic hurdle—it’s the linchpin …
Read More
Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making

Navigating Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making: A Critical Guide for Urgent Care

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Urgent care operators face increasing challenges from payer reviews—a situation exacerbated by ongoing …
Read More

DEVELOPING DATA

Scale of Orthopedic Urgent Care

The Scale of Orthopedic Urgent Care

As of August 12, 2025, there are 726 orthopedic urgent care (OUC) rooftops in the United States, according to National …
Read More
credit card on file speeds collections

Credit Card on File Speeds Collections, Decreases Bad Debt

The credit-card-on-file practice requires a patient’s credit card at the time of service, which is used to cover balances after …
Read More
Pediatric Populations Represent 29% of Urgent Care Patients

Pediatric Populations Represent 29% of Urgent Care Patients

Over the 12-month period ending June 15, 2025, 29% of urgent care patients were children and young adults aged 21 …
Read More
Lyme-Related Diagnoses in Urgent Care

Northeast Leads in Lyme-Related Diagnoses in Urgent Care

In the United States, 8 common species of ticks exist in different geographies that present risk of transmitting more than …
Read More
Credit Card on File

Patient Credit Card on File Increases Payments by 20%

Just as hotels require a credit card to cover any “incidentals,” urgent care is increasingly pre-authorizing patient credit cards at …
Read More

Abstracts in Urgent Care

November 2025 Urgent Care Abstracts

Abstracts in Urgent Care – November 2025

Validation of Clinical Predictive Rules in Pediatric Testicular Torsion Take Home Point: In this study, the Testicular Emergency Score for …
Read More
October 2025 Urgent Care Abstracts

Abstracts in Urgent Care – October 2025

Cannabis Use and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Adults Take Home Point: This study suggests that cannabis use has a strong, statistically …
Read More
September 2025 Urgent Care Abstracts

Abstracts in Urgent Care – September 2025

Casting Rather Than Surgery for Medial Epicondyle Fractures in Children Take Home Point: In this randomized trial, treatment for pediatric …
Read More

Abstracts in Urgent Care – July/August 2025

AI Performs Well in Virtual Urgent Care Visits Take Home Point: This study indicates that an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm …
Read More
Abstracts in Urgent Care June 2025

Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2025

Can Doctors Predict Patient Outcome from a First Impression? Take Home Point: In this systematic review, the first impressions of …
Read More

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Training Our Teams to Meet the Needs of Our Patients

Countless times over the last year I have heard variations on a “we can’t” theme. It’s a specific and focused …
Read More
Join Me and Contribute to JUCM

Join Me and Contribute to JUCM

It is an absolute honor and pleasure to serve as the new Editor In Chief of The Journal of Urgent …
Read More
Urgent Care is HOLA

The Quality of Urgent Care Depends on our Commitment to HOLA Expertise

At least once a month, a friend or family member will text me—often for the first time in years—to share …
Read More
UC Management of HDOD

Managing Health Data Obsessive Disorder Presentation in Urgent Care

In a prior editorial, I described the case of Thomas, a young man among the “worried-well,” who presented to urgent …
Read More
Health Data Obsessive Disorder

‘Health Data Obsessive Disorder’—A Modern Epidemic

“Low blood sugar” was his chief complaint, but Thomas was in my urgent care (UC) mostly because he was feeling …
Read More
Log In
×

Login to JUCM

For JUCM CME activity, please login to the Institute of Urgent Care Medicine website HERE.

Forgot your password?