Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Triage Systems Work Well To Direct Patients to UC Rather Than ED

A narrative review of literature exploring patient triage found that structured, evidence-based systems that differentiate between emergency departments (EDs), urgent care (UC), and primary care can be useful in scaling down the inappropriate use of EDs. Published in Cureus, the editorial concluded that the specificity of triage systems in terms of identifying true ED cases ranges from 85-95%. Additionally, the author found several features of UC visits that were superior to comparable ED metrics. Urgent …

Pneumonia Patients Rarely Tested For Possible Fungal Disease

Adult outpatients with unspecified community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) rarely receive diagnostic testing for blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, or histoplasmosis, however repeat visits seem to drive this testing, according to a retrospective study of commercial insurance claims published in JAMA Network Open. Among 573,994 CAP patients seen from 2017–2023, only 5% underwent diagnostic testing for blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, or histoplasmosis, and those tests typically occurred after a median of 3 patient visits. Of those tested, 3% received a fungal disease …

U.S. Healthcare Spending Climbs Past $5T Mark

The United States now spends $15,474 per person on healthcare for a total of $5.3 trillion in spending overall in 2024, according new federal data reported by Health Affairs. For 2 years in a row, health spending increases have topped 7% (7.4% in 2023; 7.2% in 2024). Increased demand for care and higher intensity of services are the main drivers of growth, according to the analysis. Year Total Expenditures (trillions) Expenditures Per Capita 2018 $3.6 …

Dedicated EHR Time Reduces After-Hours Work For Clinicians

A study of general internal medicine physicians from 2 ambulatory practice networks evaluated whether reserving protected time for EHR tasks—such as messaging, prior authorizations, or medication refills—affects physician productivity and hands-on EHR time. Researchers compared 130 general internal medicine physicians (41 in the intervention group and 89 in the control group) from November 2021 to June 2024 and set aside 1 appointment slot per half-day (20-30 minutes) dedicated to asynchronous EHR tasks. As published in …

Oral GLP-1 Medication Begins Production in US

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved semaglutide tablets as the first oral GLP-1 medicine for obesity in adults. According to a press release, the once-daily pill is also indicated to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events including death, heart attack, or stroke in adults with overweight or obesity and cardiovascular disease. Previously only available as an injectable, semaglutide’s oral formulation could expand treatment for patients who are reluctant to use an …

More Than Half of Hospitals Embrace Generative AI

A national survey of 2,174 U.S. acute care hospitals found growing uptake of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools integrated with electronic health records (EHRs) in 2024, as published in JAMA Network Open. A total of 762 hospitals (31.5%) were considered “early adopters,” meaning they currently use integrated, generative AI. Another 24.7% say they plan to have implementation within a year (“fast followers”), suggesting that more than half of the hospitals surveyed would have adoption by …

More Future Doctors Enrolling In Medical School

Medical school enrollment is hitting a new high for the 2025-2026 academic year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. For the first time, total enrollment has topped 100,000 students, and the total number of medical school applicants rose by 5.3%, reversing a 3-year decline. Except for a 1-year increase in 2021-2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the new figures represent the largest gain in a decade, the association says. First-time applicants comprised 76.5% of …

COVID Vaccines Protected Children In Last Respiratory Virus Season

A new analysis published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines provided meaningful protection against the need for emergency department or urgent care visits related to COVID-19 in children. Using a test-negative design, researchers found vaccine effectiveness was 76% (95% confidence interval [CI], 58%–87%) for children aged 9 months-4 years and 56% (95% CI, 35%–70%) for those aged 5-17 years. Protection persisted with extended follow-up through 299 days. Approximately 38,000 …

Banner Health Shifts to All Cashless Payment

This month, Banner Health is moving to a cashless payment system as a cost-savings measure, according to a press release. The nonprofit system has rolled out the cashless model across Arizona and will phase in the policy across other locations (California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming ) in the coming months with a target date to complete the transition by March 2026. Cash collection creates administrative costs that represent more than a third of the …

Legacy Health Urgent Care Clinicians Participate in Solidarity Strikes

Some 80 clinicians at Legacy Health recently announced 2-day solidarity strikes to show support for 140 of their coworkers—represented by the Oregon Nurses Association—who are already on an open-ended strike that started on December 2, according to the Oregonian. As of press time, about 50 nurse practitioners and physician assistants at Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care clinics were committed to a strike during the holiday week as were 30 pediatric advanced practice providers who work at Randall …

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