Practice Management
When it comes to chlamydia screenings, EMR alerts can lead to increased screening rates among young women, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Across 16 primary care practices, chlamydia testing was ordered among women aged 18–24 years in just 3.8% (135 of 3,586) of eligible encounters in control sites compared with 13.2% (497 of 3,770) of eligible encounters in the intervention sites when EMR alerts were directed to medical assistants during patient …
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The Food and Drug Administration has approved ensitrelvir for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals aged 12 years and older following exposure to SARS-CoV-2. According to the manufacturer, the authorization makes ensitrelvir the first oral antiviral available in the United States for postexposure prophylaxis against COVID-19. It must be initiated within 72 hours of exposure, and treatment includes a 5-day regimen. Approval was supported by findings from a trial including more than 2,000 participants that …
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HCA Healthcare recently announced the acquisition of 17 urgent care clinics across the Carolinas that were previously operated by Urgent Care Group. According to a social media post by Tyler Laymon, Vice President of Strategic Growth, the deal will bring the company’s total urgent care footprint to more than 390 centers across 12 states. The newly acquired locations include rooftops in Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, as well as several locations in …
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Soccer’s premier World Cup tournament kicks off this week in 16 cities across North America, and urgent care clinicians near the host sites should be prepared for a potential surge in patient visits, including visits for heat-related illness, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion. More than one-third of the scheduled soccer matches will take place in locations forecasted to experience high summer temperatures and humidity, according to new analysis from NPR. When analyzing 20 …
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Children with birthdays in the fall are more likely to receive annual flu vaccinations and also are more likely to experience lower rates of influenza than children born in the summer, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers used the birth month as a comparative measure because children often receive their annual well-child visits near their birthdays. Since flu vaccines typically become available in late summer or early fall, children with birthdays that …
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced federal strategies to strengthen the national response to Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. HHS also pledged to reduce Lyme disease cases by 25% by 2035. As part of the new initiatives, a large pilot program led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and HHS will bring tick-control researchers together to deploy practical strategies to reduce tick populations on wildlife before they can …
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded approval for insulin inhalation powder for use in children and adolescents aged 6 and older living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, according to the product manufacturer’s press release. Previously, the inhaled insulin was only approved for adults. The oral inhaler device and insulin inhalation powder deliver insulin into the bloodstream through the lungs, enabling rapid absorption of insulin into systemic circulation. Marketed as Afrezza, …
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According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 27.6% of Americans had at least 1 visit to an urgent care center in 2024. By comparison, only 19% of Americans reported visiting a retail health clinic in 2024, suggesting urgent care is the clear setting of choice for on-demand care. Looking at the populations by age, adults ages 18–64 represented the largest portion of the total urgent care visits (28.9%). Children …
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Recently, the Rochester Regional Health system in New York discontinued on-site x-ray services at 2 urgent care centers and reallocated those radiology technologists (RTs) to other urgent cares in the system that have higher patient demand, according to a local news site. Such optimization strategies could become more common in urgent care, given the state-specific requirements for radiology staff and the RT shortages across the nation. The reallocations of staff and discontinuations of x-ray services …
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American Family Care (AFC) has announced the appointment of Rhett Lankford as president. In the role, Lankford will report to Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Morgan and help lead AFC’s ongoing expansion efforts. According to the announcement, Lankford brings more than 20 years of experience in healthcare operations and management services organizations (MSOs). Most recently, he served as senior vice president and general manager at NAPA Managed Services, where he oversaw anesthesia-MSO operations across hospitals, surgical …
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