Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

CMS: Urgent Care Centers Are OK as Destinations for Ambulance Transport During Pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has broadened the array of acceptable destinations for ambulance transport—with urgent care centers prominent among those destinations. If transport to a hospital emergency room is not medically appropriate because of conditions at that hospital, for example, ambulances can bring patients to an urgent care center, community mental health center, federally qualified health center, physician’s office, ambulatory surgery center, or any location providing …

Is Florida Looking to Cast Pharmacists as Primary Care Providers?

We told you recently about pending legislation in Virginia that would enable pharmacists to prescribe—not just dispense—medications for certain conditions, such as strep throat and influenza. Now comes news that Florida is working on legislation, Senate Bill 714, that would empower pharmacists to essentially conduct a primary care provider-style patient visit for flu. If it becomes law, a patient with flu-like symptoms could go to a drugstore, be given an instant lab test in the …

An Update on COVID-19 from JUCM

Over the past few days, the Centers or Disease Control and Prevention and various state health departments have released details about a growing number of confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19. The general public has been attentive to local and national media coverage on the subject, with many taking to social media to express concern and to conjecture about how serious the threat may be in their areas. Unfortunately, much of that “conjecture” feeds an …

How One Urgent Care Center Dealt with a COVID-19 Scare—and Was Commended by the Health Department

An abundance of caution and a strong effort to keep the community informed drew praise for Open Door Urgent Care from the Delaware County (Indiana) Health Department recently. When a patient presented with symptoms that could have indicated COVID-19 infection, management made the decision to close up shop while providers ran through the screening protocol recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To head off the rumor mill—and any potential for resultant panic—Open …

As Flu Shuts Down an Entire School, Health Officials Recommend Urgent Care Over the ED

Influenza infections are so rampant in Rexford, NY that an entire elementary school was forced to shut its doors for a day. Student absences were up to 20%, with faculty also calling in sick at such a rate that the school district was hard pressed to find coverage for the students who were in class. Considering that every day sick children and adults walked through the door increased the risk of spreading infection further, the …

How Measles Forced One School District to Issue an Ultimatum: Get Vaccinated or Stay Home

Influenza isn’t the only vaccine-preventable disease wreaking havoc on communities across the country. Thirty-one states, from Maine to Hawaii, have seen confirmed cases of measles this year. In Seattle, the threat is seen as so great that the public school system has drawn a line in the sand: If your child hasn’t been vaccinated against measles, they’re not allowed to return to school after the winter holiday break. Days missed as a result will be …

Urgent Care Operations Can Flourish as Franchises, Too

Ownership structure gets talked about a lot in urgent care circles. Where entrepreneurial physicians essentially created the industry, it wasn’t too long before venture capitalists and health systems wanted in on the action and started gobbling up existing operators. Today those entities dominate. That doesn’t mean there are no other paths to success in the industry, however. The Franchise Times just announced that American Family Care cracked their list of the 200 fastest-growing franchises, coming …

Managed Care Magazine Readers Are Getting the Lowdown on the ‘Urgent Care Surge’

With the recently proposed prior authorization bill in the news, the magazine Managed Care chose an opportune time to give its readers fresh insights into urgent care. An article in the current issue looks at a few representative New England urgent care markets to illustrate why the marketplace continues to grow, and its relative merits compared with other settings (notably, the emergency room). Urgent Care Association CEO Laurel Stoimenoff, PT, CHC is quoted extensively, as …

Opioid Crisis Brings Out the Worst in Some Providers, But the Best in Others

Awareness of the opioid crisis plaguing the country has risen sufficiently that responsible healthcare providers are realizing where there are opportunities to help—while more nefarious characters prey on those who fall victim to addiction. Just this week federal agencies pounced on 53 medical professionals, leveling charges that they were taking part in illegal prescribing and distribution of opioids and other dangerous narcotics in Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. All told, they’re alleged to …

Another Disease Outbreak Strikes in an Antivaccination ‘Hotspot’

We’ve told you recently about outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease in communities that are loath to line up for immunizations. Unfortunately, that trend is continuing as a rapidly expanding rash of measles cases has moved health officials in Clark County, WA to declare a public health emergency. The first reported case was tracked back to a single person at nearby Portland (OR) International Airport on January 7. Four days later, a second infected person attended a …