A 40-year-old male presents with pain and swelling in his right eye after being struck by a foul ball while coaching his daughter’s softball game. View the images taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
Read MoreAre Urgent Care Providers Liable if They Don’t Test Patients for COVID?
Click Here to download the PDF. Urgent message: As the severity of newer strains of SARS-CoV-2 has decreased, many patients and providers have become less vigilant about COVID-19. Yet COVID-19 remains among the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. Failure to diagnose and, if eligible, treat patients with COVID-19 may result in significant harm. Professional liability is less likely, however, given the current governmental protections in place. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc is …
Read MoreThe 10-Year Trend on UC Claim Lines Is Strong—in the City and in the Country
Click Here to download the PDF. Believe it or not, just a decade ago urgent care accounted for barely 6% of all claim lines in the United States. There was little difference between rural and urban settings, too. New research from FAIR Health1 shows that the picture changed dramatically in 2015, though, as the percentage of claim lines attributed to urgent care jumped nearly 5% in a single year and rural claims started to outpace …
Read MoreBack Pain, an Urgent Care Visit—and a Devastating Outcome
Click Here to download the PDF Urgent message: By the time an adverse outcome occurs in the urgent care center, it’s too late to go back and ensure the documentation reflects the care the patient received. Lyndsie Pfeifer, DO; Marta Fratczak, Kinkela Harkins, and Michael Weinstock, MD Citation: Pfeifer L, Fratczak M, Harkins K, Weinstock M. Back pain, an urgent care visit—and a devastating outcome. J Urgent Care Med. 2023;17(8):13-17. Key words: back pain, documentation …
Read MoreNo Butts About it: Approaching Anorectal Abscesses in the Urgent Care Center
Click Here to Download the PDF Urgent message: Given the high rate of systemic involvement in patients with anorectal abscess, it is essential for urgent care providers to identify patients with risk factors and, when indicated, ensure those patients receive incision and drainage and appropriate follow-up care. Cameron W. Galbreath, MSN, FNP-C and Christina Gardner, DHSc, MBA, PA-C Citation: Galbreath C, Gardner C. No butts about it: approaching anorectal abscesses in the urgent care center. …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care – May 2023
Click Here to download the PDF Does My Patient Have a Testicular Torsion? Take-home point: Symptoms most suggestive for testicular torsion (TT) are adolescent/pubertal age, palpated hard testicle, and the presence of nausea and vomiting associated with acute scrotal pain. Citation: Lukosiute-Urboniene A, Nekrosius D, Dekeryte I, et al. Clinical risk factors for testicular torsion and a warning against falsely reassuring ultrasound scans: a 10-year single-centre experience. Emerg Med J. 2023;40:134–139. Relevance: As symptoms of TT …
Read MoreIt’s Time to Think Differently about Follow-up
Click Here to download the PDF In the macro and “dot phrase” era, there are many refrains that appear in the electronic medical record (EMR) with such regularity that we don’t even notice them anymore. Statements like All questions were answered prior to discharge, The patient verbalizes understanding and is comfortable with the plan, and Symptomatic care and over-the-counter treatments discussed are so commonly tacked onto charts that our eyes have been trained to gloss …
Read MoreA 61-Year-Old Female with History of Hypertension and New Palpitations and Shortness of Breath
A 61-year-old female with a past medical history of hypertension presents to urgent care with palpitations and shortness of breath for 3 days. She also reports cough and fever, and denies nausea or vomiting. View the initial ECG taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
Read MoreA 7-Year-Old Male with Lesions on His Knees
A mother brings her 7-year-old son to your urgent care center because she’s concerned about asymptomatic lesions that have developed on his knees over the past couple of weeks. On examination, you observe smooth, crusted and scaly, erythematous and whitish papules and nodules on both knees. There was no history of recent trauma. The patient had a history of dermatomyositis. View the image and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of …
Read MoreA 12-Year-Old Boy with a Crush Injury
The patient is a 12-year-old boy who presents with pain after his foot became wedged in an escalator at the mall. The image on the left was taken upon presentation; the one on the right is from a 2-week follow-up. Review each and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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