Harris Fleming, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

CDC: Waning Immunity After a COVID-19 Booster Is Only a Matter of Months

Patients who receive a COVID-19 booster shot after having completed the first one- or two-dose regimen of the vaccine have roughly 4 months before protection from that shot starts to wane, according to the latest information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The latest COVID-19 information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An Early Release article published by Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report notes specifically that “Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19–associated …

The Omicron Paradox: Milder but at the Same Time More Deadly?

Both anecdotal and research-based evidence has indicated that the Omicron variant of COVID-19, while more transmissible, is less likely to lead to hospitalization and death. As time goes on and real-world data accumulate, though, it appears the picture is more complicated. An article published in The Washington Post notes that the number of daily deaths has risen to a level higher than it was last spring when the Delta variant dominated. The hardest-hit populations have …

UCA Members: Want to Treat COVID-19 Patients with Antivirals? Now Is the Time to Prepare

Access to antiviral therapy is expected to broaden for patients with COVID-19 in the near future. Urgent care centers are well positioned to offer key advantages for patients compared with other settings—most significantly, considering that the timing of oral therapeutic initiation is essential to reducing viral load, 7-day walk-in access. To help ensure urgent care providers are well armed with the most up-to-date information, the Urgent Care Association and the College of Urgent Care Medicine …

The Pandemic Really Is Contributing to Mental Health Issues. What Can Urgent Care Do About It?

The idea that having to deal with COVID-driven social restrictions, concerns about illness, and mask mandates could cause problems with the public’s mental health is no longer theoretical. An article just published by JAMA Network Open reveals that some individuals started to have struggles as early as spring of 2020, the earliest time period covered by the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Civic Life and Public Health Survey. Researchers assessed psychological distress in four waves: April 7–13, …

COVID-19 Patients Fresh Out of the Hospital May Not Be Out of Danger

The general public’s concerns about patients with COVID-19 tend to focus on the respiratory effects of the virus. Thrombotic events can endanger patients during and after related hospitalization, however, indicating that urgent care providers need to be aware of and vigilant for signs that recently discharged patients could fall prey to venous thromboembolism and other events. According to an article just published by The Lancet, patients who received rivaroxaban 10 mg/day for 35 days experienced …

If You Think Patients Should Be Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine, You Have to Tell Them

In spite of major public information campaigns on the safety and lifesaving capability of the COVID-19 vaccines, only around half of American are fully vaccinated (meaning they’ve received the full complement of a one- or two-dose vaccine and a booster shot). And only 80% have gotten their standard doses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, getting at least some more patients to comply with vaccination guidelines may take something quite simple: …

We Know Racial Inequities Exist in Urgent Care. Can Telemedicine Be Part of the Solution?

It’s no secret that disparities exist between the accessibility and quality of care afforded to various economic and racial groups in the United States. We don’t need to look any further than the COVID-19 pandemic for evidence of that, as immunization and testing rates have generally been lower among people of color compared with white individuals. Paradoxically, the pandemic may provide the impetus for positive change in healthcare inequities, as well as a new opportunity …

Ensure Your Billing Practices Are Transparent for the Sake of Your Patients and Your Reputation

Normal procedures are anything but in the era of COVID-19. So, it’s imperative to ensure that all staff members are aware of the special circumstances surrounding billing for services related to the pandemic. Patients expect (correctly) that they can get vaccinated or tested without incurring any out-of-pocket expenses. Consequently, it came as quite a surprise when a patient in the Norcross, GA area stopped into an urgent care center to be tested for COVID-19—only to …

Patients Are Still Dying from COVID-19—and Most of Them Have Something in Common

In spite of significant advances in many aspects of the medical community’s approach to COVID-19, patients continue to be hospitalized and die from the virus. In the vast majority of cases, though, the literal difference between life and death appears to come down to one factor that is under the patient’s control: immunization. In her latest press briefing, Rochelle Walensky, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed that Americans who are …

Warning: Omicron BA.2 May Be the Most Transmissible Variant Yet

Any notions that the declining case load indicates we’re nearly out of the COVID-19 woods should be dispelled with news that the BA.2 sublineage of the Omicron variant may be the most transmissible yet. An article published by MedPage Today, drawn from multiple sources in the United States and the United Kingdom, revealed that cases related to BA.2 were doubling every 4 days, with a 120% “growth advantage” over the original version of Omicron—which at …