Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Urgent Care News

Histoplasmosis Outbreak

Histoplasmosis Outbreak: Lung Infection Symptoms Similar to Common Pneumonias

At least 35 people have been sickened in a histoplasmosis outbreak in Tennessee in the …
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APPs in Michigan Vote To Unionize

APPs in Michigan Vote To Unionize

Advanced practice professionals (APPs) in the University of Michigan Health−Sparrow network have voted in favor …
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Shortage of Oseltamivir

Flu Season Brings Local Shortages of Oseltamivir

Just as high flu activity has patients and providers on edge, the American Society of …
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Deter Violence Against ED Workers

Health Systems Ask For Clarity To Deter Violence Against ED Workers

Several healthcare organizations have asked the Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in a …
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Triage Directs Patients to UC

Triage Systems Work Well To Direct Patients to UC Rather Than ED

A narrative review of literature exploring patient triage found that structured, evidence-based systems that differentiate …
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Original Research 

Parental Pressure on Providers in Pediatric Urgent Care

The Impact of Parental Pressure on Providers Practicing in Pediatric Urgent Care

Urgent Message: Pediatric urgent care providers commonly experience pressure to satisfy parental expectations, which may …
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Financial Viability of POCUS in Urgent Care

Algorithmic Prediction of Utilization and Financial Viability Modeling for Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in Adult Urgent Care Patients

Urgent Message: The prediction model developed for this study suggests that point-of-care ultrasound implementation could …
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Chart Closure Time in a Pediatric Urgent Care

Improving Chart Closure Time in a Pediatric Urgent Care Setting

Urgent Message: Quality improvement projects can increase the percentage of charts closed within 1 hour …
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Patient Portal Access in Urgent Care

Leveraging Physician-Patient Relationships to Increase Patient Portal Access During an Urgent Care Visit

Urgent Message: Urgent care physicians can leverage the physician-patient relationship established during a visit to …
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COVID-19 Antiviral Prescribing In Urgent Care

COVID-19 Antiviral Prescribing In Urgent Care By Patient Ethnicity

Urgent Message: This study confirms variable prescription rates among different ethnicities in Aotearoa, New Zealand, …
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Clinical 

Shortness of Breath in Pregnancy in Urgent Care

Shortness of Breath in Pregnancy: Differentiating Physiology from Pathology in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: As shortness of breath and edema are common in pregnancy, urgent care clinicians must distinguish patients with normal …
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Sexually Transmitted Infections in Urgent Care

United States Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Comprehensive Overview and Relevance To Urgent Care Centers

Urgent Message: Patients frequently utilize urgent care centers for testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. All clinicians can be …
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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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Practice Management 

Upskilling in AI

Stop Waiting For ‘AI-Native’ Clinicians, Invest in Upskilling Now

Urgent Message: Invest in artificial intelligence upskilling across your organization by dedicating resource time and funding for educational activities. It’s …
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Change Management Considerations with Ambient AI

The Listening Revolution: Change Management Considerations with Ambient AI

Urgent Message: The ultimate goal of ambient AI is to reclaim time for patient care by offloading burdensome administrative processes …
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IFU Limitations Matter in Urgent Care

Why IFU Limitations Matter in Urgent Care Lab Testing

Urgent Message: Urgent care teams can take practical steps to safeguard quality for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-waived testing by …
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2026 ADA Mandate in Urgent Care

Is Your Urgent Care Ready for the 2026 ADA Mandate?

Urgent Message: Urgent care facilities must ensure their medical diagnostic equipment and staff training protocols meet new ADA accessibility standards …
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CASE REPORTS

Bell Palsy and Stroke

When Bell Palsy Is Actually a Stroke: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While Bell palsy is the most common diagnosis for patients with unilateral facial weakness/paralysis, …
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Case Report of Osteomyelitis in Urgent Care

Progressive Ankle Pain in a 12-Year-Old Male: A Case Report of Osteomyelitis

Urgent Message: While most pediatric musculoskeletal complaints are usually benign and self-limited, the urgent care clinician …
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Management of Acute Opioid Withdrawal

Management of Acute Opioid Withdrawal in a Patient With an Unknown Prescribing History: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Opioid prescribing in urgent care can present difficulties, particularly in patients with an unclear …
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Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis and Calf Pain

Chronic Calf Pain and Limp: A Case Report of Pediatric Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis

Urgent Message: Pediatric patients frequently present to urgent care with musculoskeletal complaints, but clinicians must remain …
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STEMI With Musculoskeletal Chest Pain

STEMI With Musculoskeletal Chest Pain: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Reproducible chest wall pain is often considered a symptom that indicates a musculoskeletal diagnosis …
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Download Past Issues

February 2026: Bell Palsy And Stroke: Discerning Facial Paralysis Symptoms

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

JUCM CAREER CENTER

CLINICAL IMAGE CHALLENGES

Osteomyelitis of the first digit

64-Year-Old Female With Diabetes and Thumb Pain

A 64-year-old female presents to urgent care complaining of right thumb pain. The patient states she removed a wooden splinter …
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Dengue Fever in Urgent Care

42-Year-Old Male With Widespread Rash, Cough and Vomiting

A 42-year-old male presents to urgent care with complaints of cough, throat pain, and vomiting that developed earlier that morning …
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Trifascicular Block in Urgent Care

61-Year-Old With Chronic Kidney Disease

A 61-year-old male with a history of hypertension, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease presents to urgent care on a Tuesday …
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Elbow Pain Following a Fall

4-Year-Old Male With Elbow Pain Following a Fall from Monkey Bars

A 4-year-old male presents to urgent care with a swollen, painful right elbow. The mother reports that the child had …
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Lichen Planus Pigmentosus in Urgent Care

53-Year-Old Woman With Dark Patchy Spots on Face and Neck

A 53-year-old woman visits urgent care for dark patchy spots on her neck and face that have been spreading over …
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Revenue Cycle Management

Mitigating Coding Compliance Risks of AI

Mitigating Coding Compliance Risks of AI Documentation Tools

Three types of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are quickly moving to the urgent care exam room: real-time transcription; real-time coding; …
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Adding Primary Care to Urgent Care

Benefits of Adding Primary Care Services to Your Urgent Care

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC In the last few years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) …
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Billing Integrity in Urgent Care

Billing Integrity in Urgent Care: How to Manage Risk

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC, is Revenue Integrity Manager at Experity. The financial and reputational health of an …
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Mastering Revenue Cycle Management

Mastering Revenue Cycle Management

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Revenue cycle management (RCM) may not be the most glamorous part of urgent …
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ICD-10 Changes for Urgent Care

ICD-10 Changes Impacting Urgent Care in 2025

Tricia Krueger, CPC, is RCM Coding Supervisor for Experity. ICD-10 has been ever changing since it was first adopted 10 …
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DEVELOPING DATA

STI Test Bundling

Missed Opportunities in STI Test Bundling

An analysis of 70,915,524 visits logged across ~3,600 urgent care centers in the Experity EMR from January 1, 2024, through …
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Commercial Reimbursement In Urgent Care

Commercial Reimbursement In Urgent Care

While examining 17,410,492 commercially insured visits in the Experity EMR from November 1, 2024, through October 31, 2025, we calculated …
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Urgent Care Testing For Chlamydia or Gonorrhea

Urgent Care Testing For Chlamydia and Gonorrhea

About three-quarters of urgent care centers test for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae (CT/NG) infections either in-house or by sending …
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Scale of Orthopedic Urgent Care

The Scale of Orthopedic Urgent Care

As of August 12, 2025, there are 726 orthopedic urgent care (OUC) rooftops in the United States, according to National …
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credit card on file speeds collections

Credit Card on File Speeds Collections, Decreases Bad Debt

The credit-card-on-file practice requires a patient’s credit card at the time of service, which is used to cover balances after …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

CT Imaging in Children

Abstracts in Urgent Care – February 2026

Do We Need to Manage Presyncope Similar to Syncope? Take Home Point: Patients with unexplained presyncope and syncope in this …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care January 2026

Abstracts in Urgent Care – January 2026

Prevention of RSV Disease in Healthy Infants Take Home Point: In this early phase, drug-manufacturer-funded clinical trial, a single dose …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care December 2025

Abstracts in Urgent Care – December 2025

Causes, Management, and Outcomes of Diplopia in the ED Take Home Point: For diplopia, binocular diplopia was the most common …
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November 2025 Urgent Care Abstracts

Abstracts in Urgent Care – November 2025

Validation of Clinical Predictive Rules in Pediatric Testicular Torsion Take Home Point: In this study, the Testicular Emergency Score for …
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October 2025 Urgent Care Abstracts

Abstracts in Urgent Care – October 2025

Cannabis Use and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Adults Take Home Point: This study suggests that cannabis use has a strong, statistically …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Training Our Teams to Meet the Needs of Our Patients

Countless times over the last year I have heard variations on a “we can’t” theme. It’s a specific and focused …
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Join Me and Contribute to JUCM

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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Urgent Care is HOLA

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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UC Management of HDOD

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

‘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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