Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Urgent Care News

Urgent Care Increases HIV Testing

Urgent Care Increases HIV Testing: Study Intervention

By using an educational and EHR intervention, Intermountain Health significantly increased HIV co-testing for patient …
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Breakfast Reduces Fracture Risk

Yet Another Reason To Eat A Decent Breakfast: Reduced Fracture Risk

On busy days, many people choose to skip breakfast in order to get out the …
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Confirm New Measles Cases

Wisconsin, Ohio Confirm New Measles Cases

In Wisconsin, health officials have confirmed several new measles cases, raising the state’s outbreak total …
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Are Flu Shots Worthwhile for Urgent Care

Are Flu Shots A Worthwhile Business For The Upcoming Season?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted its recommendations for the 2025–2026 flu …
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AI Predicts Glucose Response, AI Improves HbA1c

HbA1c Improves For Those Using AI App That Predicts Glucose Response

An artificial intelligence (AI) tool combined with real-time biometric tracking and human coaching produced significant …
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Original Research 

Analysis of Short Course Systemic Glucocorticoid Prescribing in Urgent and Convenient Care Clinics

Urgent Message: Across a tristate urgent care and convenient care network, systemic steroid use occurred …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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: …
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Clinical 

Postpartum Shortness of Breath

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Shortness of Breath

Urgent Message: Shortness of breath presentations for postpartum patients in urgent care should prompt consideration of venous thromboembolism or peripartum …
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Nerve Block for Headache

Blocking the Pain: Nerve Block in the Treatment of Headache in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: Although greater occipital nerve block has demonstrated positive effectiveness and few risks as a treatment for acute headache, …
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Herpes Testing in Urgent Care

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 …
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Postpartum Vaginal Bleeding and Discharge

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 …
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Practice Management 

Red Flags When Selling Your Urgent Care

Red Flags When Selling Your Urgent Care Practice

Urgent Message: Offers to buy urgent care centers typically follow due diligence processes, and the assets are valued within predictable …
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Mental Health Urgent Care

Mental Health Urgent Care: Bridging the Gap in Crisis Care

Urgent Message: Meridian Health’s Mental Health Urgent Care service addresses the gap between outpatient therapy and hospitalization. As a way …
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Private Equity Investment In Urgent Care

Private Equity Investment In Urgent Care, By Number Of Centers, 2025

Fifteen years after the initial private equity platform investments in NextCare, FastMed, and MD Now, the number of urgent care …
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2025 Urgent Care's Top 100

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 …
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CASE REPORTS

High-Pressure Paint Gun Finger Injury: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While the initial clinical presentation of a high-pressure paint gun injury may not elicit …
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When Neck Pain Arises From Spinal Epidural Abscess: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Though atraumatic neck pain is a common condition in the urgent care setting, spinal …
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Viral Gastroenteritis With Bowel Obstruction: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While acute gastroenteritis is typically self-limiting, inappropriate or excessive use of over-the-counter antimotility agents …
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Ruptured Baker Cyst is an Uncommon Complication of a Common Diagnosis: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Rupture of a Baker cyst is a rare complication and may manifest with the …
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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 …
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Download Past Issues

Paint Gun Injuries in Urgent Care

September 2025: Recognizing the Risk of Industrial Pain Gun Injuries

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

JUCM CAREER CENTER

CLINICAL IMAGE CHALLENGES

11-year-old With Heel Pain While Running

An 11-year-old male presents to urgent care complaining of bilateral heel pain, right worse than left. The patient denies recent …
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80-Year-Old With Substernal Chest Pain

An 80-year-old male with hypertension and hyperlipidemia presents to urgent care for 1 day of sharp, substernal chest pain radiating …
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A 42-year-old Female with a Widespread Scaly Rash

A 42-year-old woman with widespread scaly lesions presents to urgent care. On exam, the provider noted superficial crusts and exfoliative …
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42-Year-Old With Facial Injury

A 42-year-old man presents to urgent care on a Sunday afternoon. He explains that he was playing a game of …
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56-Year-Old With Episodes of Chest Pain

A 56-year-old female with no past medical history presents to urgent care with 2 episodes of chest pain that woke …
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Revenue Cycle Management

Timely Filing: What Every Practice Needs to Know

Nikki Benedict Timely filing is a critical concept in medical billing that directly impacts claim reimbursement. Despite its importance, the …
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Credentialing: The Gatekeeper of Access and Reimbursement

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC In the healthcare ecosystem, credentialing is more than a bureaucratic hurdle—it’s the linchpin …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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DEVELOPING DATA

Pediatric Populations Represent 29% of Urgent Care Patients

Over the 12-month period ending June 15, 2025, 29% of urgent care patients were children and young adults aged 21 …
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Northeast Leads in Lyme-Related Diagnoses in Urgent Care

In the United States, 8 common species of ticks exist in different geographies that present risk of transmitting more than …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts in Urgent Care – September 2025

Casting Rather Than Surgery for Medial Epicondyle Fractures in Children Take Home Point: In this randomized trial, treatment for pediatric …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – July/August 2025

AI Performs Well in Virtual Urgent Care Visits Take Home Point: This study indicates that an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Join Me and Contribute to JUCM

It is an absolute honor and pleasure to serve as the new Editor In Chief of The Journal of Urgent …
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The Quality of Urgent Care Depends on our Commitment to HOLA Expertise

At least once a month, a friend or family member will text me—often for the first time in years—to share …
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Managing Health Data Obsessive Disorder Presentation in Urgent Care

In a prior editorial, I described the case of Thomas, a young man among the “worried-well,” who presented to urgent …
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‘Health Data Obsessive Disorder’—A Modern Epidemic

“Low blood sugar” was his chief complaint, but Thomas was in my urgent care (UC) mostly because he was feeling …
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‘As Little as Necessary…’– A Mantra for Urgent Care

“Do as little as necessary, not as much as possible.” This is the mantra I recite throughout every urgent care …
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