Ashley Blachford, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Oregon Seeks to Limit PE Ownership of Urgent Cares

In Oregon, proposed legislation could dramatically limit corporate ownership of primary care, specialty, and urgent care clinics. Proponents say they’re concerned about the potential quality issues, staff reductions, increased costs, and the “depersonalization” of ownership they believe comes with private equity control, according to an article by Oregon Public Broadcasting. The bill’s language builds on existing rules in the state and would require clinics with corporate ownership to ensure the majority owners (51%) are physicians. …

Duke UC Staff Adopt Honeybee Mascot

The Duke Urgent Care Hillsborough clinic in Hillsborough, North Carolina, treats about 110 patients per day. And every one of them likely notices that the staff and clinicians have adopted the hard-working honeybee as the center’s official mascot. As part of an employee experience program, workers chose the mascot and decorated the space with bee-themed wall art, signs and plush animals. Many staff wear bee icons on their name tags as well. “We liked what the honeybee …

Buprenorphine, Liraglutide Could Be A Promising Combination

An analysis in Stat shared recent findings from the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference that indicate liraglutide–the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medication used for weight loss—significantly reduced opioid cravings for patients in a small randomized controlled trial. The 20 patients used anti-obesity drugs for opioid use disorder for 3 weeks, and those using liraglutide experienced a 40% reduction in opioid cravings, even when the lowest dose was used. Ramp up recovery: Buprenorphine is the …

Nursing Workforce Recovering After Pandemic

A recent study in JAMA Health Forum analyzing national data on registered nurses (RNs) revealed a recent recovery in the size of the nursing workforce following the substantial drop recorded during the pandemic. Despite a drastic decline of more than 100,000 RNs in 2021, the workforce saw a resurgence in 2022 and 2023. This recovery indicates a promising trajectory with forecasts indicating that by 2035, the workforce will reach 4.56 million nurses, adding an estimated …

Physician Fined for Lax Supervision of NP

A California nurse practitioner (NP) with a doctorate degree was fined $20,000 in 2022 for illegally presenting herself as a physician and referring to herself as “doctor” when interacting with patients. The NP, Sarah Erny, was supervised by Anika Moore, MD, who has now been fined $25,000 for unlawful supervision of Erny’s conduct, according to Medscape. An investigation found that Moore—who lived in Massachusetts—never reviewed any medical records for Erny’s patients, and Erny ultimately opened …

UT Health Adds New Urgent Cares Through Acquisition

UT Health East Texas has completed the acquisition of 5 QuickVisit Urgent Care clinics plus a separate acquisition of the UT Health East Texas Urgent Care from Premier Health. According to a press release, patients who need follow-up care at these newly added sites will have a fast-track option to see a UT Health East Texas physician or affiliated specialist. It’s a model not uncommon among health systems to encourage loyalty by making it easy …

ED Car Crash Underlines Every Center’s Liability to Protect

Medical buildings can be vulnerable to any number of disruptive accidents that might cause harm to patients or prevent the delivery of care, including motor vehicle incidents. For example, 1 person died and 5 others were injured after a vehicle crashed into the emergency department at the St. David’s North Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas, last week, according to news reports. In the St. David’s case, 3 team members received minor injuries from the …

Providers Recommending Obesity Pharmacotherapy For Tweens

In 2023, more than 1,200 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 were prescribed semaglutide for obesity, according to an analysis of insurance claims by Komodo Health. Additionally, when data from Medicaid programs in 5 selected states was analyzed by Reuters, more than 460 children were found to be taking the weight management drug. The bottom line seems to indicate that providers are embracing obesity pharmacotherapy for tweens. Of note, it was December 2022 …

Baptist Memorial JV Opens 10 Centers

Baptist Memorial Health Care recently announced the opening of 10 new urgent care (UC) centers in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas under the Baptist Urgent Care flag. The UC organization is a joint venture partnership between Baptist Memorial Health Care and the Urgent Team Family of Urgent Care & Walk-In Centers. According to a press release, the centers are accredited by the Urgent Care Association. Urgent Team operates 85 total centers offering urgent care, primary care, occupational, specialty …

Flu Can Increase Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke in Older Patients

The risk of atherothrombotic events in patients aged 50 and older care more than double in the 14 days following an influenza diagnosis, according to research presented in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. For those with severe cases, the risk of acute myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke increased more than 4-fold and remained high for 2 months following the flu event. Authors examined the link between influenza illness diagnosed in the primary care and hospital settings …