Harris Fleming, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Some Things May Be Better Left Unsaid—Especially to the Patient

Conversations with patients go on all day—every day of every week of every year. It’s hard to name anything more ordinary in an urgent care center. It’s important to remember this is not the case for the patient, however. Especially in urgent care, it’s likely that if a patient came in to see you their day is anything but ordinary. Many may see any provider at all once a year, at most. So, those interactions …

Despite Progress, Antimicrobial Resistance Remains a Threat. What Are You Doing About It?

The U.S. healthcare system has been criticized for being a bit too willing to prescribe antibiotics, often for patients who are suffering through viral, not bacterial, infections, thereby fueling increases in antimicrobial resistance. To its credit, the urgent care industry has rallied together to make antibiotic stewardship a priority. That commitment needs to be continued and amplified to fight what the World Health Organization calls “high levels” of antimicrobial resistance around the globe, however, as …

Update: Will the Measles Outbreak Creeping Across the Midwest Be Contained?

As we reported previously, an outbreak of measles in Ohio and Minnesota has sparked concerns that other states in the region and beyond could be vulnerable to a similar uptick in cases. While that fear has proven unfounded so far, the number of cases in Ohio has continued to climb over the past couple of months. As reported by The Hill, 85 cases have been confirmed, with hospitalization needed for 34 of those patients. The …

Don’t Let the Tripledemic Distract You (or Patients) from ‘Typical’ Preventable Infectious Diseases

The seemingly endless, start-and-stop recovery from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and fluctuating reports of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus rates can suck up a lot of attention in mainstream and medical media—so much so that efforts to prevent other infectious diseases can slide under the radar. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has continued to do its work as usual. ACIP adopted the following standards at …

Multiple Drug Shortages Continue—and the Prospects for Timely Resolution Are Not Good

Tamiflu is the latest medication to be reported in short supply where levels of influenza continue to be high across the United States, according to new information from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. ASHP says 21 oseltamivir presentations are in short supply, with most of the eight manufacturers involved reporting no resupply date. The report notes that some pharmacists have started compounding some medications in response. JUCM News has reported previously on the ongoing …

As Legal Marijuana Becomes More Common, so Do Associated Acute Care Visits by Older Adults

Older patients are presenting to emergency rooms with complaints related to marijuana use in greater numbers than ever before, according to research just published by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Based on a trend analysis of California Department of Healthcare Access and Information records, the researchers reported that the rate of cannabis-related visits by patients 65 years of age and older increased from 20.7 per 100,000 visits to 395 visits/100,000 between 2005 and …

True Blue: The Color of Your Scrubs May Be Influencing Patient Expectations

Personal tastes and the hot colors of the moment are the last things you should be relying on when choosing the color of scrubs, if new data published by JAMA Surgery are any indication. Researchers at the University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill showed patients photos of male and female clinicians wearing black, light blue, green, and navy blue scrubs to find out if a particular color was associated with surgeons in …

With Billing Decisions in the Provider’s Court, e-Visits Go Up and Messages from Patients Go Down

A study just released by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that when providers are empowered with the decision of whether or not to bill for an e-visit, the number of virtual visits rises while the number of messages exchanged with patients falls. That’s not as counterintuitive as it sounds. The data show the volume of e-visits rose because overall the providers started billing for “visits” that they once gave away for free, …

Conducting Urgent Care Research Is as Expensive as It Is Essential—but Help Is on the Way

JUCM has succeeded in its commitment to publish at least one piece of original research in each issue over the past couple of years—and we plan to continue—but, in general, studies specific to urgent care continue to be scarce. One challenge is that conducting research can be an expensive proposition. Operators running on thin margins or venture capitalist-type ownership may balk at committing to studies that could benefit the field but not have a financial …

Retailers Keep Casting a Wider Net to Draw Primary Care and Urgent Care Business

Chain drugstores continue to invest heavily in their quest to capture more primary care and urgent care patients. As JUCM News readers know, only a month or so ago CVS announced it was buying Signify, a home healthcare provider, for roughly $8 million. That was just the appetizer course, though, as it’s been revealed the company is investing $100 million in Carbon Health, a primary care and urgent care company. At the same time, Becker’s …