Practice Management
Refusal by many to believe that COVID-19 is as transmissible or dangerous as it is (and, subsequently, refusal to follow guidelines on reducing risk for transmission) has been one factor in the nearly unchecked spread of the virus for much of the past year. Public education campaigns fell on deaf ears, too often. Now, however, it appears that the national burden became so great that even naysayers took heed and started changing their ways. According …
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Americans have been smoking less and less for years—that is, until social distancing pushed many to take up or increase the habit, according to data from Altria Group Inc., which owns the Marlboro cigarette brand. Sales were flat in 2020 after falling annually 5.5% the previous year, a slide that started years earlier thanks in part to steep taxes on cigarettes and the growing popularity of vaping devices, including e-cigarettes. This reversal comes at a …
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As we’ve noted in recent weeks, urgent care had a tough time of it through much of 2020, from challenges in receiving COVID-19 testing supplies to patients who were unnecessarily afraid to visit their local urgent care center. Now, though, in spite of again being overlooked as a potentially valuable partner in vaccinating the country against the virus, visits to urgent care centers are actually up 67% vs the previous 3-year average according to data …
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When the COVID-19 pandemic first started taking hold, it seemed like pharmacies in the United States could get all the testing supplies they needed while urgent care centers were relegated to the sidelines. Now that several viable vaccines are available, that balance has yet to shift in any substantive way. Sure, hospitals and local and regional public health agencies are also conducting immunization programs but urgent care is again getting short shrift—but this time others …
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