Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

FTC Pledges To Target Competition With New Healthcare Task Force

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking to address anticompetitive healthcare market activity with the formation of a new task force, according to an agency announcement. The group will be responsible for leading enforcement initiatives, creating coordinated agencywide strategies on investigations, identifying opportunities for FTC involvement in legal cases, and shaping new priorities for enforcement. Some examples of past actions include successful efforts to increase price transparency and terminate deceptive marketing techniques. FTC says the …

Claim Submission Final Rule Puts Your Fax Machine On Notice

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule this month that is meant to drive healthcare transactions away from fax machines and postal mail. Too many providers are still using these old-school workflows with surprising frequency for submitting claims documentation today, and CMS believes the Adoption of Standards for Health Care Claims Attachments Transactions and Electronic Signatures Final Rule represents a major step toward fully electronic workflows, according to a press release. …

New Daily Oral Medication Treats Plaque Psoriasis

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the oral medication icotrokinra for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older, according to a press release. An interleukin-23 receptor antagonist, the once‑daily medication is a uniquely targeted oral peptide for patients who weigh at least 40 kg and who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. New guidance from the International Psoriasis Council clarifies when clinicians …

Hot, Humid Days Drive ED Visits Among Medicaid Beneficiaries

A large study of 55,200 emergency department (ED) visits among adults aged 65 years and older found that heat-related risk varies by population, and higher-than-average “feels like” temperatures in the summer months are associated with greater all-cause ED use for EDs with predominantly Medicaid-covered populations. Researchers analyzed visits from May 1 to September 30 between 2022 to 2024 at 2 New York hospitals and compared the data, as published in JAMA Network Open. At a …

Many Independent Florida NPs Working Outside of Primary Care

The American Medical Association (AMA) frequently cautions against certain expanded scope-of-practice allowances for nurse practitioners (NPs) in everyday patient care. In a new post, AMA points to a study in Family Practice that examined whether NPs in Florida are practicing within the state’s requirement, which stipulates that autonomous NPs must work within primary care. Since the passage of an expanded scope-of-practice rule in 2020, Florida has allowed NPs who complete at least 3,000 clinical practice …

New Copilot Health AI Tool Promises Connections To Health Records, Wearables

Not to be outdone by the other household names in consumer technology, Microsoft has now launched Copilot Health, its AI health chatbot within Copilot that knits together health records, health history, and device data from more than 50 wearables, according to a press release. Microsoft says the Copilot platform already responds to some 50 million consumer health questions each day. Through the company’s recently integrated partner platform for sharing health records, HealthEx, the AI tool …

Massachusetts Maps Urgent Cares Ahead of World Cup Soccer

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is making a game plan for this summer’s 2026 FIFA World Cup by collecting a list of urgent care centers and other provider sites to help visitors find needed care while experiencing the international soccer events. It’s part of the state’s overall healthcare system readiness strategy tied to the World Cup. Additional resources for clinicians include disease fact sheets as well as disease reporting, isolation, and quarantine protocols for …

Missouri Aims To Allow NPs To Practice Independently

Missouri lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice independently, according to NPR. Right now, Missouri NPs are required to have a “collaborating” physician who provides oversight, which comes with a financial cost for operators while also driving many NPs to move to neighboring states where they can practice independently, according to the report. Compared to other states, Missouri has one of the strictest laws for NP scope of practice. …

Tennessee PBM Proposal May Force Retail Clinic Closures

In Tennessee, lawmakers are advancing the FAIR Rx Act (SB 2040/HB 1959), a legislative effort aimed at dismantling pharmacy monopolies by prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or controlling retail pharmacies. The bill directly targets vertically integrated healthcare giants like CVS Health, which owns the Caremark PBM, the CVS retail pharmacy chain, and the health insurer Aetna. In response, CVS has forecasted that the bill’s passage would affect access, forcing the closure of all …

Baylor Scott & White Expanding Urgent and Emergency Access

Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health is expanding locations as part of a broader strategy that includes in-person urgent care, digital urgent care, and new emergency access points. The nonprofit system currently operates 50 urgent care centers through a joint venture with NextCare Urgent Care and is continuing to invest in new growth in the market, as reported in Becker’s. Alongside these services, the organization plans to open 4 small-format neighborhood emergency hospitals in North …

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