bnapolitano, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2018

Some Oral Antibiotics Up Risk for Kidney Stones Key point: Oral antibiotics are associated with an increased risk for nephrolithiasis in adults and children, with the risk highest in those exposed at a younger age. Citation: Tasian GE, et al. Oral antibiotic exposure and kidney stone disease. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2018; May 10. [Epub ahead of print] The prevalence of kidney stones has increased 70% during the last 30 years, with the most disproportionate …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – May 2018

Factors Influencing Provider Efficiency—or Inefficiency—in the ED Key point: Emergency department study on provider efficiency has relevance to urgent care. Citation: Bobb MR, Ahmed A, Van Heukelom P, et al. Which practices make for efficient emergency department providers? Acad Emerg Med. December 18, 2017. [Epub ahead of print] This mixed-methods study published in Academic Emergency Medicine identified five practices/behaviors that increased provider efficiency in the emergency room and two practices that did not. What makes some …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – April 2018

ACP Eases Up on A1c Ceiling for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Key point: The American College of Physicians suggests slightly higher hemoglobin A1c target levels for patients with type 2 diabetes. Citation: Qaseem A, Wilt TJ, Kansagara D, et al. Hemoglobin A1C targets for glycemic control with pharmacologic therapy for nonpregnant adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a guidance statement update from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. March 6, 2018. [Epub ahead …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2018

Confirmed Flu Ups Short-Term Risk for MI Key point: Patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza are almost six times more likely to be admitted for acute myocardial infarction (MI) in the following 7 days. Citation: Kwong JC, Schwartz KL, Campitelli MA, et al. Acute myocardial infarction after laboratory-confirmed influenza infection. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(4):345-353. Results of a cohort study published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza were almost six …

Keep Up to Date (and in Compliance) with Changing Laws Regarding Opiates

Blue Cross and Blue Shield says thousands of physicians continually break evolving North Carolina laws regarding prescriptions for opiates—but acknowledges the difficulties both of keeping track of those laws on the physicians’ part and enforcing them on the state’s part. The challenge may be especially great in regard to the NC STOP Act, which limits opioid prescriptions to 5 days for first-time patients with short-term pain (or 7 days if the patient had surgery). The …

Optimizing EHR Functions May Help Prevent Physician Burnout

Long hours, an overabundance of bureaucratic tasks, and perceived lack of respect from coworkers and administrators are the perfect recipe for physician burnout, if Medscape’s 2018 Physician Burnout and Depression Report is to be believed. Another source cited—increasing reliance on electronic health records—may also be the gateway to reducing the risk for burnout, however, according to a new article published online by Advisory Board. The difference between an EHR’s potential to be a burden or …

New Data Reveal Insights in TBI Care—and How Urgent Care May Be Able to Help

Concerns over the lifetime consequences of head injuries have led to countless protocols and regulations for athletes and victims of accidents or falls. Advances are being made on the clinical front, too—some of which may light the way for urgent care to play a bigger role. First, a study just published in JAMA Network Open suggests that patients who presented to emergency rooms with what was ultimately found to be mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) …

Suit Claims CVS Revealed HIV Status of 6,000 Patients in Ohio

CVS Health is one of the defendants in a federal lawsuit claiming that it and other companies failed to protect the HIV status of 6,000 patients in Ohio—not through an online data breach, but thanks to a poorly constructed envelope. The suit filed by three unidentified plaintiffs maintains that when CVS mailed letters to patients in the state’s HIV drug assistance program last year, the recipients’ HIV status was visible in the envelope’s glassine window. …

Urgent Care Operators Can Help Reduce Elder Abuse—Here’s How

Urgent care providers have become more attuned to signs of potential child abuse, realizing that the parents responsible might be nervous taking a child they’ve injured to their “regular” pediatrician. Visiting an urgent care center where the family may not be known can provide a false sense of security that the true nature of a child’s injuries would go unrecognized. There’s tons of information telling providers what to do about those suspicions, as well. We …

Smart Technology Allows Tech Firms to Jump into Healthcare—for Better or Worse(?)

We look at the advent of smart technology as a window to closer contact with patients and more efficient, secure communication among providers and various healthcare stakeholders. It also opens a door for technology companies with no history in healthcare to suddenly become major disruptors. While it’s too soon to know whether that would be a good or bad thing for patients, there’s no question it makes some cogs in the supply chain nervous. If …