Practice Management
Urgent Message: Urgent care centers are not required to deliver the “best possible care” but rather an “acceptable” level of care, which is legally defined as the “standard of care.” Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Key Words: Standard of Care, Medical Malpractice, Medical Negligence, Legal Compliance, Disciplinary Action Medical malpractice occurs when a physician’s actions, or failure to act, during patient care don’t meet accepted medical standards and cause harm to the patient. To be …
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Urgent Message: In adolescents presenting with persistent chest pain and systemic symptoms, clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for autoimmune etiologies such as systemic lupus erythematosus causing pericardial and pleural effusions. Asra Usmani, MBBS, MD; Ali Baidoun, MD; Aaron Mahoney, DO; Megan Sikkema, DO Key Words: Pericardial Effusion, Pleural Effusion, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Chest Pain, Adolescent Abstract Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune condition that can affect multiple organ systems. …
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Urgent Message: Patients frequently utilize urgent care centers for testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. All clinicians can be a first line defense to control the spread and combat the current epidemic. Alexandra Faraj, PA-S; Nadesha Muniz, MS Ed, PA-C Key Words: Sexually Transmitted Infections; Chlamydia; Gonorrhea; Syphilis; Expedited Partner Therapy; Urgent Care Abstract The rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States is a major public health concern. Patients frequently utilize …
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As of August 12, 2025, there are 726 orthopedic urgent care (OUC) rooftops in the United States, according to National Urgent Care Realty and Urgent Care Consultants. Based on centers added since January 1, 2025, the estimated annual rooftop growth for 2025 is 10.9%. The charts highlight the market’s structure: Most sites operate without hospital affiliation, and OUC is largely a scaled, multisite business rather than single-location clinics. Only 9% of OUC rooftops are single …
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Countless times over the last year I have heard variations on a “we can’t” theme. It’s a specific and focused “we can’t” related to the services we are not able to provide to our urgent care patients. “We can’t do that test.” “We can’t use that medication in clinic.” “We can’t have our medical assistants do that.” Sadly, it is purely a reflection of education and training. However, as opposed to responding with increased training …
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In last month’s column, I wrote about the importance of proving Urgent Care’s value—not just in terms of access and convenience, but also in demonstrating the quality outcomes and systemwide impact that make our care essential to patients, payers, employers, and policymakers alike. Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the privilege of hearing from many of you who share this same commitment and are eager to help strengthen Urgent Care’s position in the healthcare …
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Several large health insurers are drawing provider backlash for relatively new payment policies that reduce certain reimbursements. Cigna is automatically downcoding 6 evaluation and management (E/M) billing codes (99204- 99205, 99214-99215, 99244-99245) for a small percentage of providers starting this month, for example, resulting in lower payments for some routine office visits. The insurers are leveraging algorithms and claims data to automatically downgrade the codes—often relying on third party vendors to do the adjustments. According …
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In a randomized clinical trial of 800 adults aged 65 years or older with chronic low back pain, both standard acupuncture and enhanced acupuncture with maintenance sessions significantly improved disability related to back pain compared with usual medical care, as published in JAMA Network Open. At 6 months, the adjusted mean disability score (Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire) improved by −1.0 for standard acupuncture and −1.5 for enhanced acupuncture vs usual care with benefits sustained at 12 …
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Roflumilast 0.05% cream, a new once-daily, steroid-free treatment that can be used anywhere on the body, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat mild to moderate atopic dermatitis in children 2 to 5 years of age. According to the manufacturer’s press release, roflumilast can be used for any duration of time, which can be a benefit because the topical steroids that have been a standard treatment are not appropriate for long-term use. …
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In a quality improvement study of 263 ambulatory clinicians across 6 U.S. health systems published in JAMA Network Open, researchers found the use of an ambient AI scribe for 30 days significantly reduced professional burnout and administrative burden. The proportion of clinicians reporting burnout dropped from 51.9% to 38.8% (odds ratio 0.26; 95% confidence interval, 0.13–0.54). Significant improvements were observed in note-related cognitive task load (mean difference 2.64 points on a 10-point scale), focused attention …
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