Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

New Efforts Aim To Support Testing, Treatment For Syphilis

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced a $4 million initiative to expand access to rapid, point-of-care syphilis testing, including in emergency departments and other healthcare settings where testing is typically not part of routine care. Congenital syphilis cases have increased for 12 consecutive years, with nearly 4,000 cases reported in 2024, representing a nearly 700% increase over the past decade, according to HHS. In 2023, congenital syphilis contributed to 279 stillbirths …

Injuries Increase As More E-Bikes Hit The Streets

There is strong evidence that e-bike injuries have increased in the United States, particularly injuries resulting in emergency department visits. A JAMA Network Open analysis found that e-bike injuries increased by more than 99% annually from 2017 to 2022, while conventional bicycle injuries did not increase significantly. Additionally, a more recent post from the Colorado Sun notes that clinicians at Children’s Hospital Colorado are seeing increases in serious trauma—particularly traumatic brain and facial injuries—associated with …

Medical Leaders: AI Decisions Are Not Superior To Clinician Experience

Recently, the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American College of Surgeons, and American Medical Association issued a joint statement expressing concern about perceptions that AI is “inherently better informed than physicians or that physicians cannot be trusted to make clinical decisions without first consulting this technology.” The groups say their organizations are not rejecting AI in medicine per se. Instead, they …

Immune Amnesia From Measles Can Last For 5 Years

For a patient with a measles infection, the health effects can last well beyond the acute illness. The measles virus destroys memory B and T cells that help the immune system recognize previously encountered pathogens, producing “immune amnesia,” according to an analysis in CIDRAP. As a result, patients can lose protection acquired through prior infections or vaccination and become susceptible again to bacterial and viral illnesses. Studies suggest measles survivors may lose 11%–73% of their …

Watch For Unique ‘Tick Bomb’ Bite Pattern

Clinicians might keep an eye out for an unusual dermatologic presentation that is known as a “tick bomb.” This unique tick bite pattern occurs when a person encounters a cluster of newly hatched larval ticks, potentially resulting in hundreds or thousands of tiny insects attaching to the skin at once and presenting as a collection of small red bites concentrated in an area on the skin, according to an analysis in MedPage Today that includes …

Fasting Before Lab Testing Should Be More Nuanced: Study

Fasting longer than 12 hours before a lab test generally does not provide an advantage over fasting for 8–12 hours, according to new research. A large study of routine outpatient laboratory testing suggests that most tests are minimally affected by the length of time that the patient spends fasting beforehand, potentially changing perspectives on uniform fasting requirements. As published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed 9.8 million test results from 101,148 adults using laboratory data …

Cancer Incidence Inches Up, But Survival Is Improving

The latest annual report on cancer from a collaboration of cancer organizations shows a mixed picture. While incidence is edging upward overall, cancer mortality continues to decline. During 2018–2019 and 2021–2022 study periods, cancer incidence was higher among men than women (504.6 vs 443.0 cases per 100,000). For males, the top 5 types of cancer by incidence are: 1. prostate cancer; 2. lung and bronchus cancer; 3. colorectal cancer; 4. urinary bladder cancer; and 5. …

More Kids Are Using GLP-1 Drugs For Obesity

Use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists among U.S. children with obesity is increasing rapidly. A national analysis from NYU Langone Health published in Pediatrics found that among children ages 8–11 with obesity and without diabetes, GLP-1 prescribing was 310 times higher in 2026 than it was in 2019 (when the drugs first began reaching the market), with 20,282 children in this age group receiving these medications during the study period. Most treated children had …

Prisma Acquires 36 Novant Health Urgent Cares

Prisma Health has announced plans to acquire 36 urgent care rooftops in South Carolina from Novant Health, which until about a year ago were branded as Doctors Care clinics. After the transaction, expected to close November 1, 2026, the centers will operate under the Prisma Health Urgent Care name. Virtual and walk-in care will continue, including respiratory testing, x-rays, and laboratory services, according to the announcement. Echoing the national trend of hospital-owned urgent cares, the …

Change of Scenery: Physicians Find Variety of Helpful Fixes For Burnout

A national study of physicians presented in JAMA Network Open found actions, such as changing schedules or taking a vacation, were associated with substantial improvements in burnout or professional fulfillment. Physicians completed a burnout/professional fulfillment survey, and 6 months later, completed the same survey again. The researchers identified 87 physicians out of the 359 participants whose scores happened to improve substantially during those 6 months (24.3%). Of those physicians, 30 agreed to follow-up interviews. During …

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