Practice Management
A new epinephrine nasal spray has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, in adult and pediatric patients who weight at least 66 pounds, according to an FDA press release. Until now, epinephrine has only been available for patients as an injection or auto-injection device. The agency says the new delivery mechanism addresses an unmet need in that some people who need urgent epinephrine treatment …
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Health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported elevated pertussis activity across multiple states, after months of warning Americans that pertussis—or whooping cough—was on pace to return pre-pandemic levels. Weekly reported cases are accelerating to the highest levels seen in the United States for years. For the month of July alone 2,410 cases were reported, bringing the total case count to 10,257 since January. This is 3.6 times higher than …
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A new over-the-counter syphilis antibody test has received marketing authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Branded as First To Know, the at-home screening test requires just a drop of blood and provides results within about 15 minutes, offering an early indication of a possible syphilis infection. However, any positive result must be further confirmed with laboratory testing. In a clinical trial involving 1,270 participants, the test accurately identified 99.5% of negative cases and …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a new health alert, calling attention to unusually high testing positivity rates for the highly transmissible parvovirus B19 as well as clusters of complications among individuals at high risk, such as those with sickle cell disease and pregnant women. Fetal infection can lead to myocarditis and aplastic crisis, and some cases of fetal anemia have required blood transfusions, according to NBC News. Also referred to as …
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New York’s department of health issued an advisory last week cautioning healthcare organizations to stop prescribing the antibiotic ciprofloxacin as prophylactic treatment for people who have come in contact with someone who has meningococcal disease. The department created the recommendation based on an increase in antimicrobial resistance with ciprofloxacin. In New York City, 6 of the 35 (17%) isolates from patients diagnosed with invasive meningococcal disease from July 23, 2023, to July 22, 2024, were …
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The for-profit Ardent Health system closed its initial public offering about a month ago and said in a press release that it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and to acquire complementary businesses. As it turns out, Ardent is targeting urgent care investment as its “most immediate focus” for the second half of the year—both de novo and acquisition deals—according to Modern Healthcare. Already this year, the organization has …
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In California, Kaiser Permanente (KP) operates 35 clinics inside Target retail stores, which seems like an unusual partnership on the surface. But in practice, the model helps KP open up capacity for office-based primary care physicians to handle chronic conditions and realize greater value for the system, according to Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, President of Urgent Care Consultants and Senior Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. Ayers also believes the KP Target …
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A proposed bill in California aims to increase oversight of investments in healthcare by requiring private equity (PE) firms and hedge funds to notify the attorney general proactively to obtain approval of certain transactions, according to Kaiser Health News. The bill also reinforces existing state laws that prohibit nonphysicians from directly employing doctors or managing their activities. The proposed policy comes as PE dealings in healthcare are facing added scrutiny nationwide with growing concerns that …
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COVID-19’s summer surge has taken many urgent care centers by surprise. Respiratory viruses usually ramp up in October and continue on through late winter. However, record-high heat across the country could be driving more people to cool off indoors where the virus is more likely to spread. As of August 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 32 states. Meanwhile, the reported weekly positivity …
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According to the Department of Justice, Azhar Shakeel, MD, has settled with state and federal agencies for $619,994 to resolve a False Claims Act violation. Shakeel, who owns and operates Urgent Care of Muskogee, Urgent Care of Checotah, and Muskogee Medical Care in Oklahoma, allegedly submitted claims to several federally funded healthcare programs during times in which it was believed he was not actually in the centers seeing patients. A department press release notes that …
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