Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Antibiotic Resistance For Gonorrhea Seen As Global Health Threat

New data from the World Health Organization (WHO) warns of a rise in drug-resistant gonorrhea worldwide. According to a news release from the agency’s Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Program, resistance to ceftriaxone and cefixime—2 first-line antibiotics for gonorrhea—has increased. From 2022 to 2024, ceftriaxone resistance rose from 0.8% to 5%, while cefixime resistance rose from 1.7% to 11%. Resistance to azithromycin, which is often used alongside ceftriaxone or cefixime, also increased from 0.5% to 4%, …

Healthcare Leads In Job Growth

The healthcare industry was among the few sectors to post job gains in the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting. Healthcare added 43,000 jobs in September, keeping pace with its ongoing growth for the year. Ambulatory categories accounted for the highest gain, adding more than 23,000 positions in the market. Future forecast: Against the backdrop of the aging of America, health service demand is likely to remain high, and as a result, related job …

Forthcoming Asthma Guidelines Look To Address Systemic Corticosteroid Use

Anticipated updates for asthma treatment guidelines are shifting away from oral or systemic corticosteroids because of increasing evidence of long-term harm. Negative effects can come from even short, intermittent use, according to coverage in MedPage Today of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology meeting. Studies show that as few as 3 or 4 steroid bursts over a lifetime may lead to side effects such as bone loss, metabolic disorders, and adrenal suppression. The …

Stormy Days Equal More ED Visits For Those With Asthma

A 5-year study that was presented this month at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology finds that thunderstorms can trigger measurable increases in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits. Researchers analyzed 4,439 asthma-related visits across 3 hospitals in Kansas from January 2020 to December 2024, during which time, they identified 38 thunderstorm days. Data showed the mean number of admissions on storm days (17.91) was significantly higher than on …

Trending Flu Subtype Forecasts Another Severe Respiratory Virus Season

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has returned to publishing its seasonal FluView updates, reporting that for the week ending November 8, positive influenza tests are up 2% over the previous week, and 1,665 patients were admitted to hospitals with influenza. According to global reports, the mutated H3N2 flu virus is spreading faster than usual, and CDC found this subtype in more than 62% of subtyping performed for the past 2 weeks of …

Highlights From SERUCA 2025: AI, Burnout, and The New Front Line of Care

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, President of Urgent Care Consultants and Senior Editor of JUCM. The Southeast Regional Urgent Care Association (SERUCA) 2025 conference, held November 14–15, 2025, in New Orleans, focused on urgent care’s most pressing challenges: technology, workforce well-being, and clinical quality through stewardship. This article highlights key takeaways for operators, vendors, and clinicians. Promoting Clinical Excellence Through Stewardship Stewardship was a recurring theme. In a session on antibiotic use, Steven Goldberg, MD, …

Watchful Waiting Works Well For Acute Otitis Media

A large multi-system analysis of 140,579 pediatric acute otitis media (AOM) visits published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society found “watchful waiting” was used in only 15.6% of cases—even though watchful waiting is often a beneficial approach, according to the authors. The watchful waiting group was either sent home without a prescription (56%) or received a delayed prescription (44%). Meanwhile, the remaining 84% of AOM cases received immediate antibiotics. Both groups had …

Ohio Aims To Update Supervision Of X-Ray Techs, Improving Access In Urgent Care

Proposed legislation in Ohio might improve x-ray staffing in urgent care, and it could also have a significant effect on urgent cares’ bottom lines. The state has been a policy outlier because Ohio requires a physician to be physically on-site to provide direct supervision for general x-ray machine operators—which doesn’t align with the reality of today’s urgent care staffing model where centers are predominantly led by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). The bill …

CMS May Refine Place of Service Code For Urgent Care

The Urgent Care Association (UCA) continues to seek differentiation for urgent care in the place of service (POS) definitions used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to construct payment schedules, which are updated yearly. In the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, UCA’s advocacy efforts were noted in the Federal Register document with a statement indicating comments offered about the POS for urgent care will be taken into consideration by CMS for possible …

What It Costs To Chase Payment

A recent MedCity News survey reveals that providers end up investing about 2-10% of the collection value of their claims on subsequent efforts to chase down payment, scrubbing away at margins and slowing administrative workflows in revenue cycle management. At the same time, 90% of hospital and physician practice respondents say they are at least somewhat interested in artificial intelligence tech tools to make improvements in billing, and about 66% already have experience with such …

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