Ashley Blachford, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

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 …

Smartwatches Are Trustworthy AFib Screening Devices

Smartwatches do a good job of identifying atrial fibrillation, according to a meta-analysis in JACC. The authors considered data from 26 studies that included 17,349 participants and found that smartwatches detect atrial fibrillation with high accuracy. Overall sensitivity was 94.8%, and specificity was 96.4%. The accuracy of the results varied when comparing each individual device, however. According to the authors, Amazfit (99% sensitivity; 99% specificity) and Samsung (97% sensitivity; 96% specificity) models performed at the …

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 …

Younger Adults With High Cholesterol Lag In Statin Treatment

A large study of 771,681 adults aged 18–39 found that young people with high LDL cholesterol rarely begin statin therapy, despite guideline recommendations, as published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and presented at the American Heart Association’s 2025 Scientific Sessions. Among young adult members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California with LDL-C of 190 mg/dL or higher, just 28.4% started a statin drug within 1 year, and less than half (45.7%) had …

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 …

New Antiviral Flu Biologic Attracts Merck To Cidara Deal

Merck recently announced its intent to acquire Cidara Therapeutics in a deal with a total transaction value of approximately $9.2 billion. Cidara’s pipeline includes an experimental long-acting antiviral drug that has the potential to offer single-dose, universal prevention against influenza A and B. Known as “CD388,” the pipeline product is not a vaccine but a low molecular weight biologic. It is expected to offer seasonal protection for various populations, including immunocompromised individuals. The transaction is …

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 …

Americas Region Loses Measles Elimination Status

This week, Canada lost its measles elimination status, and as a result, the “Americas” region overall no longer has its verified elimination status as designated by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The Americas first gained measles-free status in 2016, lost it 2 years later, and then re-established the elimination status in 2024. As of November 7, 2025, reports show 12,596 confirmed measles cases in 10 of the region’s countries with 28 deaths (23 in …

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