Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Execs Rely on AI, Predict New Investment in On-Demand Care Options

Healthcare executives meeting at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Advisory Council in New York recently highlighted how rapidly the health sector is shifting under technological, financial, and policy pressures. In terms of technology, artificial intelligence (AI) is now delivering real-world operational benefits, including shorter hospital stays, faster workflow automation, and reduced administrative burdens associated with clinician documentation, they said at the meeting. Leaders also noted that organizations need to sketch out scenario-based plans because major Medicaid …

Highlights From SERUCA 2025: AI, Burnout, and The New Front Line of Care

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, President of Urgent Care Consultants and Senior Editor of JUCM. The Southeast Regional Urgent Care Association (SERUCA) 2025 conference, held November 14–15, 2025, in New Orleans, focused on urgent care’s most pressing challenges: technology, workforce well-being, and clinical quality through stewardship. This article highlights key takeaways for operators, vendors, and clinicians. Promoting Clinical Excellence Through Stewardship Stewardship was a recurring theme. In a session on antibiotic use, Steven Goldberg, MD, …

My AI Journey and Practical Lessons You Can Use Now

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc My artificial intelligence (AI) awakening wasn’t a lightning bolt but a slow current—a series of small jolts. I kept encountering people who seemingly talked about AI all the time—fluent in the lingo and referred to by others as “AI gurus.” From their conversations, it was clear they were putting AI into real operations—analyzing data, streamlining tasks, even building custom AI tools and agents. But it was still as if they …

Smart Ring With AI Model Predicts Viral Respiratory Infection

It seems that artificial intelligence (AI) models can detect early acute systemic inflammation in response to viral respiratory tract infections (VRTIs) through biometric data collected from wearable devices, according to a small study published in Lancet Digital Health. In the prospective study, 55 healthy adults aged 18–59 years were monitored before and after receiving a live attenuated influenza vaccine, which simulated real-world infection. Participants continuously wore a smart ring, smart watch, and smart shirt, which …

Will AI Discharge Summaries Help To Reduce Burnout?

AI-generated reports using large language models (LLMs) seem inevitable in healthcare, especially when it comes to the time-consuming task of writing up patient discharge summaries, a commentary post in JAMA Internal Medicine states. Right now, the responsibility of compiling summaries is one of the many administrative burdens leading to burnout among clinicians, and leveraging LLM tools could reduce that burden if done thoughtfully and with appropriate data integration. In a related article, researchers found no …

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 was better at adhering to clinical guidelines and identifying critical red flags during virtual urgent care (UC) consultations, while physicians were better at adapting recommendations to changing information obtained during a patient consultation. Citation: Zeltzer D, Kugler Z, Hayat L, et al. Comparison of Initial Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Final Physician Recommendations in AI-Assisted Virtual …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – December 2024

ECG Interpretation: Humans Vs Machines Take Home Point: In this study, cardiologists and emergency physicians (EP) had greater accuracy for electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation than current versions of ChatGPT and Gemini. Citation: Günay S, Öztürk A, Yiğit Y. The accuracy of Gemini, GPT-4, and GPT-4o in ECG analysis: A comparison with cardiologists and emergency medicine specialists. Am J Emerg Med. 2024 Oct:84:68-73. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2024.07.043. Relevance: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving and becoming an integral part …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – October 2024

Public Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence Use in Healthcare Take Home Point: Patient and healthcare workers surveyed were generally accepting of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine. Respondents did express some concern about the potential impact of AI on the accuracy of medical decision-making, however. Citation: Thornton N, Binesmael A, Horton T, et al. AI in health care: what do the public and NHS staff think? The Health Foundation. Published July 31, 2024. Accessed …

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