Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Consider Follow-Up Screening for Hypertension Among COVID-19 Patients

A retrospective study of 45,000 patient records presented in Hypertension found an association between the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the development of hypertension among adults who had no past history of high blood pressure. It’s unknown if the virus could be triggering the development of hypertension or worsening preexisting hypertension, according to the study’s lead author. But the association is significant. Among the records, 21% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 developed high blood pressure. By comparison, only 16% …

Innovation and Sustainability: Urgent Care Run School-Based Health Centers Improve Community Health

Urgent message: By leveraging grant funding, community-facing services, and a collaborative model with school districts, QUICKmed Urgent Care operates a successful school-based health center model. This innovative approach addresses healthcare gaps in underserved areas and augments the operator’s core business. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Click Here to download the article PDF QUICKmed Urgent Care, based in Youngstown, OH, is a prominent provider in the state’s Northeast region. Its 12 traditional urgent care centers are …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – September 2023

How Long Should We Prescribe Antibiotics for Pediatric UTI? Take-Home Point: Children receiving 5 days of antibiotics for urinary tract infection (UTI) had a higher rate of treatment failure that children receiving 10-day courses. However, absolute treatment failure rates were low in both groups. Citation: Zaoutis T, Shaikh N, Fisher B, et. al. Short-Course Therapy for Urinary Tract Infections in Children: The SCOUT Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2023 Jun 26; e231979. Relevance: There have …

Is a Midsummer Bump in COVID-19 Hospitalizations a Harbinger of Another Tough Winter?

The midpoint of summer saw the steepest increase on COVID-19 since December 2022, leading some public health authorities and academics to wonder aloud whether we could see another tripledemic—simultaneous, high rates of COVID, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus—as winter approaches. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitalizations for COVID-19 jumped 10.3% in the week ending July 15. Emergency room visits were also up for the week ending July 21. Given …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – July/August 2023

Click Here to download the article PDF. Lyme Disease Diagnosis in Children of Different Racial Groups Take-home point: Black children with Lyme disease were more likely to have arthritis rather than cutaneous findings at the time of diagnosis. Citation: Hunt K, Michelson K, Balamuth M, et al. Racial differences in the diagnosis of Lyme disease in children. Clin Infect Dis. 2023;76(6):1129-1131. Relevance: Erythema migrans (EM) is commonly felt to represent the first clinical finding in …

COVID-19 and RSV: Coinfection Requiring Hospitalization

Click Here to download the article PDF. Urgent message: Coinfection with COVID-19 and other respiratory pathogens can lead to a worsening clinical picture and requires careful assessment in the urgent care center. Marcia Taylor, MD, MSCR, FAAFP Citation: Taylor M. COVID-19 and RSV: coinfection requiring hospitalization. J Urgent Care Med. 2023;17(10):28-29. Key words: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, coinfection, pandemic ABSTRACT Patients who present with symptoms suspicious for COVID-19 and other respiratory conditions, regardless of vaccination status, …

Downtime

It’s a weird time right now, isn’t it? On one hand, visit volumes seem to be back to our pre-COVID “norms.” This should be business-as-usual to us, but it feels scary because everyone got used to volumes being so high for so long. On the other hand, everyone is short-staffed, so it’s a good thing we aren’t busier, but being short-staffed is also scary because we feel unprepared for the coming months when volumes go …

Too Many Patients Still Think COVID Is ‘No Worse than the Flu.’ New Data Say Otherwise

In spite of millions of deaths and hospitalizations, as well as economic hardships and general inconveniences, there has been a segment of the U.S. population that believes COVID-19 is no more of a threat than seasonal influenza. Now that vaccines have been shown to be effective and COVID is no longer in the headlines every day, it’s possible more people than ever think that. New data published in a research letter published by the Journal …

Are Urgent Care Providers Liable if They Don’t Test Patients for COVID?

Click Here to download the PDF. Urgent message: As the severity of newer strains of SARS-CoV-2 has decreased, many patients and providers have become less vigilant about COVID-19. Yet COVID-19 remains among the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. Failure to diagnose and, if eligible, treat patients with COVID-19 may result in significant harm. Professional liability is less likely, however, given the current governmental protections in place. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is …

Free JUCM Webinar: Flu and COVID-19 Keep Evolving. Ensure Your Knowledge Base Does, Too

Urgent care providers have been proficient in treating patients with influenza for a very long time. That’s not to say it’s ever been simple, of course, as the formulation for each season’s vaccine is an educated guess that leaves little time to assess how severe the caseload will be. COVID-19, of course, required a very steep learning curve across every practice setting—but, again, urgent care providers proved up to the task. That’s a good thing, …