Journal Of Urgent Care Medicine

Orthopedic Case ReportLegal Considerations and Urgent Care Management of Acute Compartment Syndrome in the Upper Extremity

ClinicalHerpes Simplex Virus Infections: An Overview of Testing for the Urgent Care Clinician

Case ReportsDyspnea in an Asthmatic Patient Following an Influenza Infection: A Case Report

Original ResearchBrief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Practice Management2025 Urgent Care’s Top 100 – By Number of Locations

Orthopedic Case ReportLegal Considerations and Urgent Care Management of Acute Compartment Syndrome in the Upper Extremity

ClinicalHerpes Simplex Virus Infections: An Overview of Testing for the Urgent Care Clinician

Case ReportsDyspnea in an Asthmatic Patient Following an Influenza Infection: A Case Report

Original ResearchBrief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Practice Management2025 Urgent Care’s Top 100 – By Number of Locations

Urgent Care News

Amazon Restructures, Keeps Up Its Momentum

This month, Amazon engineered a significant restructuring of its healthcare leadership, reorganizing its Amazon Health …
Read More

Some Measles Cases Are Showing Up In Vaccinated Patients

Among the 1,197 confirmed measles cases in the United States so far this year, about …
Read More

Age Of Moms Giving Birth Steadily Increasing Over The Last 55 Years

Women are having babies later in life, according to a new National Vital Statistics Report …
Read More

RSV Vaccine Approved For Younger Populations

The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine manufactured by Moderna, Inc. received approval last week by …
Read More

Oseltamivir Reduces Influenza Mortality

For people with hospitalizations due to influenza, oseltamivir treatment was associated with a lower mortality …
Read More

Original Research Articles

Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Citation: Hunt E, Greger M, Shipley N. Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality …
Read More

Brief Report: A Pilot Quality and Feasibility Project Focusing on Clinician Use of an Order Set for Acute Asthma Care in Pediatric Urgent Care Centers

Urgent Message: There are limited data on implementation and use of clinical decision support tools …
Read More

Comparing Outcomes for Outpatients Treated With Cephalexin for Uncomplicated Cystitis: Is QID Dosing Necessary?

Urgent Message: Patients commonly seek unscheduled care for urinary tract infections (UTIs). Cephalexin is among …
Read More

Systematic Rapid Review: Efficacy of Hematoma Blocks for Pediatric Forearm Fractures

Shomel Gauznabi, MBChB, FRNZCGP, FRACGP, FRNZCUC, MD; Ivan Koay, MBChB, MRCS, FRNZCUC, MD Urgent Message: …
Read More

Development of a Positive Urinalysis Criteria Using a Machine Learning Approach

Urgent Message: There are no consensus definitions for what defines a “positive” urinalysis in the …
Read More

Clinical Articles

Herpes Simplex Virus Infections: An Overview of Testing for the Urgent Care Clinician

Urgent Message: Polymerase chain reaction testing is recommended for patients with lesions that could represent herpes simplex virus infection. It …
Read More

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Vaginal Bleeding and Discharge

Urgent Message: Postpartum vaginal bleeding and discharge have a broad range of etiologies ranging from benign and self-limited to life-threatening …
Read More

Urgent Care Evaluation and Management of Spontaneous Pneumothorax

Urgent Message: Spontaneous pneumothorax (PTX) occurs unpredictably. Many patients with spontaneous pneumothorax may initially present to urgent care, so it …
Read More

Postpartum Headache Presentations to Urgent Care

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Headache

Urgent Message: Both common and serious postpartum conditions may present in urgent care. Headache presentations should prompt consideration for possible …
Read More

Practice Management Articles

2025 Urgent Care’s Top 100 – By Number of Locations

The following table summarizes the 100 largest urgent care operators by number of locations as of April 1, 2025, based …
Read More

Two AI Trends That Will Change Urgent Care

Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Urgent Message: While there are seemingly countless applications for artificial intelligence in healthcare, ambient scribes …
Read More

State Legislation Could Impact Urgent Care Facilities

Alan Ayers, MBA, MAcc Urgent Message: Legislation for the licensure of urgent care centers has been enacted or proposed in …
Read More

Shorter Visits Drive Greater Patient Satisfaction in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: Urgent care has long marketed itself as providing immediate care for acutely rising conditions, and true to this …
Read More

Insights in Images Challenges

CASE REPORTS

Dyspnea in an Asthmatic Patient Following an Influenza Infection: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While patients with asthma will frequently experience exacerbations following viral respiratory infections, the urgent …
Read More

Insidious Unilateral Axillary Swelling in a Patient with Untreated HIV: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Lymphadenopathy in patients living with HIV is most commonly related to HIV infection, but …
Read More

Recurrent Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in a Patient With Repeated Exposure to Metronidazole: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Metronidazole, even during short courses of therapy, can result in disabling neuropsychiatric symptoms. It …
Read More

Hot Water Irrigation to Relieve Discomfort After Wasp and Bee Envenomation: A Case Series

Urgent Message: Hot water irrigation for 2 minutes provided immediate and sustained relief of pain and …
Read More

Death After Delayed Diagnosis of Acute Epiglottitis in an Adult Patient Initially Seen in Urgent Care: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Epiglottitis is a potentially fatal condition that has undergone a changing etiology in the …
Read More

HEALTH LAW

Changing an Employee from Full-Time to Part-Time Status

Urgent message: Whether due to reduced staffing needs or employee preference, some employees in urgent care …
Read More

Are Urgent Care Providers Liable if They Don’t Test Patients for COVID?

Download the PDF: Are Urgent Care Providers Liable if They Don’t Test Patients for COVID? Urgent …
Read More

Who Can Take X-Rays in an Urgent Care Center?

Urgent message: Given that x-ray is a differentiating feature of “urgent care” and the current challenges …
Read More

What Qualifies Someone to Take X-Rays in the Urgent Care Center? It All Depends on Where You’re Located

X-rays are high on the list of services patients expect urgent care centers to provide when …
Read More

Avoiding Defamation Lawsuits in Urgent Care

Urgent message: People are unlikely to trust their healthcare to a provider with a sullied reputation, …
Read More

JUCM CAREER CENTER

Download Past Issues

June 2025: Acute Compartment Syndrome: A High-Stakes, Time-Sensitive Diagnosis

CLINICAL CHALLENGES

13-Year-Old With Inversion Injury

A 13-year-old boy presents to urgent care after “rolling” his left foot. He explains that he tripped on a cement …
Read More

33-Year-Old With Pleuritic Chest Pain

A 33-year-old female presents to urgent care with pleuritic chest pain that is gradual in onset over the preceding several …
Read More

63-Year-Old With Sudden Visual Disturbance

A 63-year-old man presents to urgent care with sudden-onset floaters and blurred vision in his right eye for one day …
Read More

55-Year-Old With Diffusely Dry Skin

A 55-year-old woman presents to urgent care because of skin dryness and scaling on her legs that developed 2 weeks …
Read More

51-Year-Old With Hemoptysis

A 51-year-old man presents to urgent care complaining of night sweats and a productive cough with visible blood for the …
Read More

OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE

Does Concentra’s New Acquisition Foreshadow a New Era for UC and Occ Med?

On the surface, it seems like the kind of event that has become commonplace in urgent care: A large, national …
Read More

Update: The COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Many Businesses Is Off—Again

Just when you thought you had clarity on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s mandate to vaccinate workers at businesses …
Read More

That Vaccine Mandate for Private Businesses That Was Called Off? It’s on Again—and the Clock Is Ticking

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s plan to require employers with 100 or more workers to institute a COVID-19 vaccine …
Read More

Your Occ Med Clients Need Your Support with the New COVID-19 ETS—Immediately

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration just issued an Emergency Temporary Standard intended to protect workers from getting infected with …
Read More

More People Are Trudging Off to Work on Site. Do You Know Who’s at Greatest Risk for COVID-19?

While some employers are content to maintain remote or hybrid work situations for their workers, either because of strong stances …
Read More

Revenue Cycle Management

Navigating Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making: A Critical Guide for Urgent Care

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Urgent care operators face increasing challenges from payer reviews—a situation exacerbated by ongoing …
Read More

Effective Strategies Minimize Claim Denials in Urgent Care

Urgent care centers serve a crucial function in providing prompt and accessible healthcare, but they encounter unique challenges in managing …
Read More

Refresher: Guidelines for E/M Coding

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Hard to believe that the new evaluation and management (E/M) guidelines have been …
Read More

What’s New in Telemedicine for 2025?

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC The American Medical Association (AMA) added a Telemedicine Services category to the Evaluation …
Read More

How ‘Data Reviewed’ Works When Coding E/M

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Three elements determine the level for evaluation and management coding (E/M). “Amount and/or …
Read More

DEVELOPING DATA

Patient Credit Card on File Increases Payments by 20%

Just as hotels require a credit card to cover any “incidentals,” urgent care is increasingly pre-authorizing patient credit cards at …
Read More

Diagnostic Lab Test Utilization in Urgent Care

Urgent care has long been defined for its model of “test and treat” for minor, non-chronic health conditions. Patients presenting …
Read More

Does Urgent Care Require 7-Day Operations?

While patients and payers may expect urgent care to be available 7-days a week, approximately 20% of urgent care centers …
Read More

Retail Clinic Rooftops Retreat From 2023 Peak

Between May, 20231 and December, 2024, the number of retail-host clinics in the United States fell 21.7% from 1,750 to 1,370, …
Read More

Provider Compensation Increasing Since 2022

By comparing 2022 and 2024 hourly compensation data from the Urgent Care Association (UCA) Clinician Compensation Benchmarking Report, data shows …
Read More

Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2025

Can Doctors Predict Patient Outcome from a First Impression? Take Home Point: In this systematic review, the first impressions of …
Read More

Abstracts in Urgent Care – May 2025

Which Topical Agent is the Best Choice for Epistaxis? Take Home Point: This study found that oxymetazoline was most effective …
Read More

Abstracts in Urgent Care – April 2025

Evaluating Interventions for Improving Antibiotic Stewardship in Urgent Care Take Home Point: An antibiotic stewardship intervention was associated with reduced …
Read More

Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2025

Developing Procedural Mastery With Slit Lamp Use Take Home Point: Simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) intervention improved emergency physicians’ confidence in …
Read More

Abstracts in Urgent Care – February 2025

Concussion Recovery in Young Children Take Home Point: This study suggests that children aged 5-12 years old with concussion …
Read More