Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Quality Improvement Report: Improving Telephone Follow-Up in an Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Follow-up after a patient visit is essential to the continuum of care and to the perception of customer service. Especially in the urgent care setting, where providers may have no ongoing relationship with a patient, the most basic office practices (eg, collecting accurate and accessible contact information) can seem deceptively simple but are of critical importance. Jimmie Toler, MSN, NP-C, Emily E. Johnson, PhD, and Barbara J. Edlund, PhD, ANP, BC Introduction Continuum …

The Red-Hot Joint

Urgent message: Septic arthritis can lead to significant morbidity if not treated in a timely manner. Bacteria within the synovial space can lead to rapid joint destruction and irreversible loss of function. When patients present to the urgent care center with a red, hot, swollen, painful joint, every attempt must be made to rule out this disease entity to prevent significant morbidity and mortality. Introduction Patients frequently present to urgent care with a red, swollen, …

Acute Compartment Syndrome—An Urgent Care Review

Urgent message: Acute compartment syndrome (ACS) is an important high-risk diagnosis to exclude when evaluating peripheral extremity injury. Providers must maintain a high clinical index of suspicion with careful attention to the history and mechanics of injury in an urgent care setting to preclude the devastating, rapidly developing sequela of ACS. Missing a case of ACS may result in significant morbidity—and even mortality. Awareness of both subtle and overt signs will ensure the best care …

Pain in the Hand After Punching a Wall

Case An 18-year-old man presents to an urgent care center with pain at the distal aspect of the metacarpal bone of the little finger. The pain began 2 hours earlier, after he punched a wall. He has pain with range of motion and a minimal amount of numbness in the finger. He reports that he has no other injuries. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis would be.

Abdominopelvic Pain, Part 2: Approach to Women in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Diagnosis of abdominal pain is more complex in women than in men because of the more complex anatomy involved. Using a stepwise approach and involving patients in their care can make a difference. Introduction Part 1 of this article, “Abdominopelvic Pain, Part 1: Approach to Men in the Urgent Care Setting,” explained that finding the cause of abdominopelvic pain can be a difficult task for any health-care provider because the diagnostic process is riddled with important …

October 2016

Original Research: Early Diabetes Screening in the Urgent Care, Part 1

Urgent message: Undiagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus affects more than 9 million Americans. This first part of a two-part article focuses on evaluation of diabetes screening for the adult urgent care patient in whom diabetes has not been diagnosed, using effective early disease-detection strategies to reduce the long-term burden of diabetes. How this article helps you: by providing data to assist you in deciding about screening in your center. Introduction There are now more than …

U.S. Tuberculosis Cases Up for the First Time in 23 Years

After a decades-long slog toward elimination of tuberculosis in the United States, 2015 saw a slight increase in the number of domestic TB cases. While around half of all reported cases occurred in Texas, California, Florida, and New York, 29 states and the District of Columbia reported increases over 2014. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that lower funding of TB prevention programs may be on reason, urgent care clinicians faced with …

Urgent Care Management of Acute Otitis Media in Children

Urgent message: The possibility of ear infection is the most common reason parents seek care for their young children during viral upper respiratory infections with fever. Urgent care providers should know the new criteria for making the clinical diagnosis and how to use technology such as an acoustic otoscope before concluding that antibiotics are necessary. MICHAEL E. PICHICHERO, MD Diagnosing acute otitis media (AOM) is a visual process based on viewing the eardrum and determining …

Urgent Care Diagnosis and Management of Tick-Borne Diseases

Urgent message: As the incidence of tick bites increases, it is imperative for urgent care physicians to be able to recognize various species of ticks and the symptoms of tick-borne illnesses and to know what to do when a patient presents with a tick bite. TOYIN FAPOHUNDA-ADEKOLA, MD, MBA Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in the United States (Figure 1) and Europe. With a total of 279,509 cases reported between 2003 and …

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