Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Update: Study Finds No Evidence That DOAC Use Reduces Risk for Severe COVID-19

Anecdotal evidence that ongoing direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) use might reduce a patient’s risk for severe disease with COVID-19 appears to have been wishful thinking, if the results of a study just published in the Journal of Internal Medicine are any indication. The authors found no association between DOAC use and lower incidence of hospital admission for COVID-19, or a composite of intensive care unit admission of death. As such, they concluded that DOAC use …

Free JUCM Webinar: Don’t Wind Up in Court Over Inappropriate Antibiotic Prescribing

There’s a constant push-and-pull in every urgent care center in the country: prescribe antibiotics only for the indications for which they’re approved, or give in to patient demands that they “need” an antibiotic even if your years of medical training and experience tell you otherwise. Refuse the patient and they just might stalk out of your office and write a damning review on social media. Give them exactly what they ask for (ie, prioritize making …

Where Do Urgent Care Providers Fall in the Recommended Order of COVID-19 Vaccination?

As many as 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccine may be available in the United States by the end of this year. While that’s clearly good news, it’s significantly fewer than will be needed to offer widespread protection and make a dent in the pandemic. That being the case, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has issued its official recommendations on who should be able to be immunized first …

As Pandemic Fatigue Grows, Some Patients Are Becoming Combative. Is Your Team Prepared?

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to resurge in the United States, urgent care providers aren’t the only ones at risk of experiencing burnout. Many in the general public have had it with restrictions, isolation, and worry over sick loved ones (or those at risk), with some acting out with hostility toward healthcare workers. A woman in Berks County, PA was arrested recently after intentionally coughing on a nurse in an urgent care center. When the …

Should PrEP Be Part of the Discussion When Patients Present with Suspected STIs? One Urgent Care Operator Thinks So

Patients who are concerned they may have contracted a sexually transmitted infection may favor urgent care over their “regular” doctor due to both the convenience and relative anonymity of this setting. Recognizing that such patients are likely to have engaged in unsafe sex practices, should any related counseling routinely include discussion of pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV (PrEP)? Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care apparently thinks so, as the company is pledging to include discussion of PrEP when …

Be Aware: Hoping to Head Off a Twindemic, FDA Has Approved a ‘New’ Drug to Prevent Flu

Baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza) was approved to help patients in the early stages of influenza infection. However, as the reinvigorated COVID-19 pandemic now coincides with flu season, the Food and Drug Administration has approved it as a preventive measure for patients who have simply been exposed to influenza. As with the original indication, it is approved for patients 12 years of age and older. In a statement accompanying the FDA announcement, Debra Birnkrant, MD, director of …

Most Asthma Patients Don’t Receive Guideline-Directed Therapy in the ED; Can You Do Better?

Less than 6% of patients who present to the emergency room with an exacerbation of asthma receive guideline-directed medical therapy, according to research presented at the Virtual 2020 Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. The data reflect patients between the ages of 22 and 75 who were admitted to the ED of an urban tertiary cancer center between May 1, 2013 and May 1, 2015. The research team used the …

If Patients Are Using Ride-Sharing Apps to Visit the ED, Shouldn’t They Be Heading Your Way?

People who live in big cities or, for one reason or another, don’t drive still have to go to the doctor now and then. They could call a taxi but in some urban areas it can be a challenge to get one when you need it. And in rural areas, there might not be taxi service at all. That’s why some hospital systems and assisted-living facilities are partnering with Lyft and Uber, going as far …

Patients Can Take COVID-19 Tests at Home—but Should They?

As you may know by now, the Food and Drug Administration recently granted emergency use authorization for the first at-home COVID-19 test. The benefits are obvious: patients don’t have to interact in close proximity to other possibly infected individuals or the healthcare professionals testing people all day long. Further, the home test kits promise results within 30 minutes. The less obvious benefit on the provider side is that fewer people are coming in and possibly …

Be Aware: The Current Wave of COVID-19 May Even Be More Transmittable

While some experts find it difficult to identify an endpoint or starting point to distinguish one wave of COVID-19 from another, there is now evidence that the current upsurge in cases may be partially due to diverse genotypes. A study published in mBio reports that the most recent cases have been caused by strains with the Gly614 variant of spike protein, which exhibits significantly higher viral loads in the nasopharynx than did the Asp614 variant …