Practice Management
Long COVID has been much discussed here and elsewhere—even more so since new acute cases of COVID-19 have slowed—so it’s likely you have a general sense of what to look for in prospective cases. That’s unless the patient is a child, anyway; new information just published in JAMA Pediatrics reveals that, while uncommon in kids, postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) manifests differently in younger patients than it does in adults. The cohort study, reflecting …
Read More
Urgent care has thrived by proving to be a safe, cost-effective alternative to hospital emergency rooms for nonemergent complaints. In some areas of the U.S., urgent care centers may become more than an “alternative” to care soon, though. Becker’s Hospital Review reports that 17 hospitals from New Jersey to California are cutting back on services that would surely be described as “essential” to many patients. While obstetrics and maternity seem to be the most likely …
Read More
After 2 years of restrictions and worries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, communities are gearing up for a relatively normal and less-stressed Halloween. The build-up could be an ideal opportunity for urgent care centers to demonstrate their eagerness to support families and local business communities. For one, Castleview Urgent Care in Price, UT is going to offer up its parking lot as the site of a community Trunk or Treat featuring “decorated cars, lots of …
Read More
Regular readers of JUCM and JUCM News know the United States is scrambling to a solution for a future that will, unless trends change quickly, see fewer primary care physicians than ever relative to the patient population. What has gone under the radar for the most part until now is the equally daunting challenge of running a practice with fewer nurses, medical assistants, and various technicians. In short, at a time when urgent care has …
Read More
Though ivermectin has been the most widely discussed medication purported to help fight or prevent COVID-19, metformin and fluvoxamine have also been put forth by some as candidates to draw the pandemic to a quick close. And each of them has proven to be highly effective within their approved indications. The problem is that none has been helpful in fighting SARS-CoV-2, according to research published by The New England Journal of Medicine. After randomly assigning …
Read More
As JUCM readers know, public health officials have expressed concern that the much dreaded—but previously unrealized—simultaneous spike in influenza and SARS-CoV-2 could overwhelm the U.S. healthcare system, kill unknown masses of patients, and pummel the nation’s economy. Unfortunately, fresh insights gleaned from the start of the U.S. flu season are doing nothing assuage those fears. In fact, Vanderbilt infectious disease professor and highly regarded public health expert William Schaffner, MD told NPR just last week, …
Read More
In recognition of the likelihood that primary care physicians will be in increasingly short supply over years to come, a primary care chain in Minnesota has taken the extraordinary step of staffing its six locations exclusively with nurse practitioners. As reported in Becker’s Hospital Review, The Good Clinic may even be taking a page from the urgent care playbook by promising to see patients sooner than a traditional primary care practice can these days—though their …
Read More
Historically, telehealth has had a difficult time getting a foothold in urgent care. Some operators have found ways to make it work to their advantage, while many have found it not profitable enough to be a viable component of their business. The COVID-19 pandemic changed that for many as in-person visits tailed off dramatically for a time. Now that COVID is not perceived as a threat on the same level it was, some are questioning …
Read More
With Hurricane Ian battering Florida and promising to wreak more havoc as it moves north and west for days to come, urgent care centers and other healthcare services are struggling to stay open. Ascension St. Vincent’s urgent care, primary care, and specialty clinics will be closed through at least Friday. Tampa General Hospital has closed some ambulatory care locations while canceling elective surgeries for a few days. Others are sure to follow suit as the …
Read More
In a sign that President Biden’s offhand remark that “the pandemic is over” may be closer to the truth than first thought, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it’s dropping its universal masking guideline for healthcare workers. The move came after weeks of diminishing hospitalizations for COVID-19. The one caveat is that healthcare facilities should make their own determinations on masking based on conditions in their communities or proximity to immunocompromised patients. …
Read More