Ashley Blachford, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2025

Developing Procedural Mastery With Slit Lamp Use Take Home Point: Simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) intervention improved emergency physicians’ confidence in performing and teaching slit lamp exams (SLE) to other clinicians, but this confidence waned after completing the training. Citation: Hamou S, Ghiaee S, Chung C, et. al. Emergency Department Slit Lamp Interdisciplinary Training Via Longitudinal Assessment in Medical Practice. West J Emerg Med. 2024;25(5):725-734. doi: 10.5811/westjem.18514 Relevance: Procedural comfort and competence for a wide variety …

Urgent Care Evaluation and Management of Hip Osteoarthritis

Urgent Message: Osteoarthritis of the hip most commonly affects older adults and those with other risk factors including obesity and prior hip injury. It is a diagnosis of exclusion, therefore, the initial priority in urgent care for patients presenting with hip pain involves excluding alternative, time-sensitive etiologies. Alex Dragota, BSME; Matthew Baird, MD; Michael Weinstock, MD Citation: Dragota A, Baird M, Weinstock M. Urgent Care Evaluation and Management of Hip Osteoarthritis. J Urgent Care Med. …

7-Year-Old With Playground Injury

A 7-year-old boy presents to urgent care with his worried mother after he fell off a swing at daycare. He is complaining of right foot pain and can’t walk on the injured foot. Anterior posterior and oblique foot x-rays are ordered. Review the image and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the following page.

57-Year-Old with Left Foot Pain

A 57-year-old man presents to the urgent care with a 3-day history of left foot pain and swelling after walking barefoot on a wooden deck under construction. He recalls feeling a sharp pain in the affected foot at the time but could not see any foreign object. On examination, he has mild erythema, tenderness, and induration over the plantar surface of the midfoot. There is no visible puncture wound or foreign body present. Plain radiographs …

Retail Clinic Rooftops Retreat From 2023 Peak

Between May, 20231 and December, 2024, the number of retail-host clinics in the United States fell 21.7% from 1,750 to 1,370, according to data from National UC Realty. Not only did CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart announce significant clinic closures in 2024, there has been little to no growth among the remaining retail clinic operators. The top 5 retail hosts make up 95% of in-store clinics nationally and only 2% of total clinics are in independent …

68-Year-Old With Dyspnea

A 68-year-old female presents to urgent care with dyspnea for 2 days. She has a medical history of heart failure. An ECG is obtained. View the ECG captured above and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.

45-Year-Old With Painful Ankle Lesion

A 45-year-old woman presents to urgent care with a painful area that developed on her right ankle 2 weeks prior. The patient had a family history of venous thromboembolism. On examination, a variegated brown patch with a central pink angulated scar and an overlying thick crust on the lateral ankle was seen. There was also unilateral peripheral leg edema. On laboratory examination, anemia, thrombocytopenia and anticardiolipin antibodies were present. View the image and consider what …

Death After Delayed Diagnosis of Acute Epiglottitis in an Adult Patient Initially Seen in Urgent Care: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Epiglottitis is a potentially fatal condition that has undergone a changing etiology in the post-Hib vaccine landscape. Urgent care providers should be well versed on its presentation to properly triage patients and avoid misdiagnosis. William Bradley, BA Citation: Bradley W. Death After Delayed Diagnosis of Acute Epiglottitis in an Adult Patient Initially Seen in Urgent Care: A Case Report. J Urgent Care Med. 2025; 19(6)31-35. Key words: sore throat, epiglottitis, thumbprint sign Abstract …

Florida Hospitals Sue UnitedHealth Over ED Payments

Several Florida hospitals are suing UnitedHealthcare claiming the mega-insurer systematically underpays for emergency services. The 17 hospitals involved in the suit allege that the insurer failed to pay them the reimbursement rate required by Florida law, as reported by WKMG. The claims at issue in the argument involve only Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace exchange products. Last September, University of Florida Health and UnitedHealthcare parted ways after those network contract negotiations failed. It’s a …

Doxy PEP Demonstrates Real-World Effectiveness

A study of 2,083 patients found that doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxy PEP) was highly effective in preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in a real-world setting. Conducted from April 2019 to July 2024 at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the study analyzed patient demographics, STI testing history, and doxy PEP use patterns. Nearly half of participants were aged 31–40, over half were White, and most (85.2%) were gay or bisexual men. Most were not diagnosed with …