Practice Management
A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), urging the agency to consider new payment policies for urgent care centers in future Physician Fee Schedules. The gist is that CMS previously asked for information on how urgent care centers address capacity issues in emergency departments, then followed up by asking for comments on whether separate coding and payment is needed …
Read More
A new study in Radiology evaluated whether radiologists in 6 different countries could distinguish AI-generated (“deepfake”) radiographs from real images. In a subsequent phase of the study, 4 large language models (LLMs) were also tasked with deciding which images were authentic and which were deepfakes. Among 17 practicing radiologists, only 41% recognized AI-generated images as having poor technical quality at first look (“Did you notice anything unusual about these images?”). After learning that some images …
Read More
The expansion of WellNow urgent care centers in upstate New York had a measurable effect on patient health and healthcare system performance, according to a study published in Economics & Human Biology. Results show that the opening of WellNow urgent cares was associated with self-rated health increasing slightly (by about 0.04 on a 5-point scale), and individuals in the community experienced 0.3–0.5 fewer poor physical health days per month. There was no measurable impact on …
Read More
Urgent Message: Brugada syndrome may present with subtle electrocardiogram findings, and clinicians must recognize the pattern promptly to help prevent sudden cardiac death. Katherine Quinn, MS IV; Eric Mast, DO; M. Drew Mattin, MS IV; Todd Fredricks, DO, MSS Keywords: sudden cardiac death; Brugada syndrome; Brugada pattern; ventricular fibrillation Abstract Introduction: Syncope in young, otherwise healthy individuals is often attributed to benign causes but can occasionally signal life-threatening cardiac conditions. Brugada syndrome (BrS), a rare …
Read More
Urgent Message: This retrospective cross-sectional study found more than one-third of patients who presented to urgent care with rib injuries had rib fractures. Rib fracture was associated with male sex, older age, Spanish-speaking status, White race, and abnormal vital signs. Rebeka Sultana, MBBS; Kristin Breslin, MPH; Abigail Steiner, MS, MPH; Douglas B. Richardson, MAS; Lindsey E. Fish, MD Keywords: rib fracture; urgent care; chest wall trauma; pneumothorax; hemothorax; health disparities; logistic regression Research Supplemental Abstract …
Read More
Urgent Message: Wrist pain and swelling are common presentations in urgent care. Several factors can help clinicians identify cases of rheumatoid arthritis in order to promptly refer patients to rheumatology. Christina Williams, BS; Veronica Heitsch, MD Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis; wrist pain; inflammatory arthritis; metacarpophalangeal joint; rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis; disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs Questions for the Clinician at the Bedside Editor’s Note: While the images presented here are authentic, the patient case scenario is hypothetical. Abstract Rheumatoid …
Read More
Two cities in rural Ohio are sketching out plans with QUICKmed Urgent Care to open multiple center locations that would offer free visits to residents and employees of the businesses located in town, according to a local news outlet. The cities of Girard and Struthers, Ohio, would own the buildings and equipment, while QUICKmed would be responsible for clinical staffing and care delivery. Estimates from city officials put the cost at $1.5 million annually—which would …
Read More
Samantha Etter, CPC; Reanna Nelson, CPC Healthcare reimbursement processes continue to evolve. In 2026, diagnosis-based denials have increased significantly across multiple payer types. Unlike procedural denials, diagnosis denials often stem from policy interpretation rather than incorrect coding. For urgent care, each denial impacts revenue cycle performance, increases administrative burden, delays reimbursement, and raises compliance concerns. Understanding the root causes behind diagnosis denials is essential for proactive prevention and long-term revenue integrity. Historically, diagnosis denials were …
Read More
“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” This quote by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1849 is what rings true for me as I reflect on the 20-year anniversary of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM). Over the last 2 decades, the landscape of urgent care has changed drastically. Some highlights of those changes include significant growth in the number of urgent care centers and the number of urgent care …
Read More
Chest X-rays for Abdominal Pain: Physicians’ Perspectives Take Home Point: In this study, emergency medicine physicians expressed favorable attitudes toward evidence-based medicine (EBM), although their clinical practices did not always fully align with the available evidence. Citation: Evans B, Giannotti N, Ekpo E. Examining emergency doctors’ perspectives and attitudes regarding evidence-based medicine and chest radiograph request for abdominal pain. Emerg Med Australas. 2025;37(6):e70178. doi:10.1111/1742-6723.70178 Relevance: Prior literature shows that chest radiographs (CXRs) contribute little to …
Read More