Harris Fleming, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Is a Midsummer Bump in COVID-19 Hospitalizations a Harbinger of Another Tough Winter?

The midpoint of summer saw the steepest increase on COVID-19 since December 2022, leading some public health authorities and academics to wonder aloud whether we could see another tripledemic—simultaneous, high rates of COVID, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus—as winter approaches. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitalizations for COVID-19 jumped 10.3% in the week ending July 15. Emergency room visits were also up for the week ending July 21. Given …

Urgent Care Is Ahead of an Ever-Expanding Curve on Employing Advanced-Practice Providers

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants—or, collectively, advanced-practice providers (APPs)—have been essential members of the urgent care clinical team for years. Their presence on the payroll enables urgent care operators to offer high-quality care to more patients on a daily basis than would be possible without them, or with an all-physician team. Now it seems even more healthcare employers are waking up to the benefits of working with APPs. According to new data from the U.S. …

A System-Wide Cyberattack Set Providers Back Decades—and Shut Down Urgent Care Operations

When hackers launched a cyberattack against Prospect Medical Holdings in Los Angeles, the ripples were felt from coast to coast and ultimately forced cessation of urgent care operations temporarily. As reported by CBS News Moneywatch, even some who escaped a total shut down found themselves working without the benefits of computers for a time, as Crozer-Chester Medical System in Springfield, PA reverted to using hard copies for necessary documentation and records. That was expected to …

Want to Reduce Antibiotic Resistance in Children? Start with Choosing the Right Patients

Too many patients take too many antibiotics over the course of their lifetimes, often beginning from a very young age. Given the too-high incidence of multidrug resistance, this seems beyond debate. While education campaigns by the Urgent Care Association and many other provider bodies have been helpful in raising awareness, clinical evidence to help guide decision-making has been relatively sparse. One new study published by The Journal of the American Medical Association could be helpful …

Could New Data Provide Clarity on Prescribing Buprenorphine in Urgent Care?

Not long ago, JUCM published an article (The X-Waiver Is No More: What This Means for Urgent Care) analyzing how removal of federal caps on prescribing buprenorphine—in effect, paving the way for any provider with a standard DEA controlled-medication license to prescribe—would impact the urgent care industry. On the heels of that, a new study published by JAMA Health Forum assessed the differences between providers who received Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) waivers under the …

The Walmart Urgent Care Odyssey Gets the Academic Treatment—and It’s Still a Puzzler

Walmart’s various forays into the healthcare space have fallen short of economic viability over a number of years. As such, it may be surprising that healthcare researchers and business schools haven’t devoted more attention to assessing why that is, or why the company continues to expend capital without much of a return to show. Finally, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business has taken a stab at it in an article published in the …

Cases of Leprosy Are on the Rise—and Their Presentation May Surprise You

While a rise in leprosy cases in Florida is concerning enough, providers and public health officials there are especially alarmed because so many cases are occurring in patients with less-than-traditional risk factors and in patients born in the United States. According to a post by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both those factors “contribute to rising evidence that leprosy has become endemic in the southeastern United States.” Consequently, the CDC advises providers to …

‘Back to Practice’ Precedes ‘Back to School.’ Remind Athletes and Families You’re There to Help

It may be midsummer, but plans are already in motion to start fall scholastic sports programs. Given the brutal heat that has affected much of the United States this season, it’s also a good time to ensure that preseason practices are conducted as safely as possible for young athletes. Banner Urgent Care, which has several locations in the Phoenix, AZ area, is leveraging the fact that many school districts require preseason physicals by promoting their …

More Patients with Dementia Are Presenting for Immediate Care. Are You Prepared?

The unmet need for community mental health resources—and the viability (or not) of urgent care as a setting that can provide them—continues to be a problem without a solution. Unfortunately, that problem runs much deeper than the headlines can convey. In addition to patients presenting in the throes of a mental health crisis, multiples more who are living with chronic conditions like dementia present with the same needs for immediate care as everyone else. An …

Private Equity Has Emerged as a Major Player in Urgent Care—But Not Everyone Is Celebrating

Private equity (PE) investors started taking an interest in urgent care several years ago, and have continued to pony up considerable capital that is pushing industry expansion to new heights. The “yin” to that “yang” is that some healthcare providers are pushing back on what they seem to see as overinvolvement by PE in institutional operations and decision-making. An article featured on LinkedIn recently noted that the American College of Emergency Physicians has taken a …