Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Pop-Up Shops Rake in the Holiday Bucks. Can the Same Strategy Work for Urgent Care During the Pandemic?

Retailers have learned that just because something isn’t of interest to consumers 12 months a year doesn’t mean a venture can’t be highly lucrative. Think about the “pop-up” shops that appear seemingly out of nowhere every Halloween and winter holiday season. Carbon Health appears to be hoping that same strategy can work for urgent care, as the company announced the launch of 100 COVID-19 pop-up testing centers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, …

Screening for Symptoms May Be a Futile Gesture in Trying to Contain COVID-19

We told you recently how capable asymptomatic children are of spreading COVID-19. Now Anthony Fauci, MD says that statement is too limiting. The truth, according to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is that between 40% and 45% of all infections are asymptomatic. Fauci’s comments to the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) don’t bode well for the near future, as schools continue to welcome students back on campus and …

Wildfires Turn Up the Heat on Efforts to Slow COVID-19 and Prevent a Severe Flu Season

Mounting cases of COVID-19 (and associated deaths), coupled with concern that the U.S. could experience a severe flu season this year, may have given some people the sense that “things just couldn’t get any worse” from a public health standpoint. Wrong. A study published in the journal Environment International reports a link between intense wildfire seasons—like the one going on right now in western U.S. states right now—and higher incidence of influenza. Based on study …

Payroll Tax Deferral Could Land Hard on Urgent Care Employers

President Trump’s mandate to offer a deferral on payroll taxes may be intended to provide relief for employers and workers that are struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it could wind up having a detrimental effect on those same entities in the end. Those who accept the offer (which is not an offer at all, but a requirement when it comes to government employees who make less than $104,000 a year) could opt …

Is COVID-19 Opening the Door to Increased Antibiotic Resistance?

Even though COVID-19 is a viral illness, some infectious disease experts are concerned about its possible effects on antibiotic resistance. It’s not that clinicians are inappropriately prescribing antibiotics for coronavirus-infected patients, but the fact that so many patients wind up with bacterial infections as a result—including those that become infected in the hospital. The Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease notes that the pandemic “has reinforced the critical importance of treatments for infectious disease, as many …

With No Respite Between COVID-19 and Influenza, It’s Time to Start Banging the Flu Shot (and Testing) Drum

When COVID-19 first became a widespread concern in the U.S., it wasn’t unusual to hear consoling murmurs along the lines of “Well, at least it’s not flu season.” Unfortunately, the persistent nature of the pandemic has reduced that to wishful thinking for a quick resolution. The term “twindemic” is now being bandied about. The one piece of good news is that the Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for a combination …

Get Ready—Schools Are Open, and the Data Indicate that Could Cause COVID-19 to Spike

While it’s not always reliable to look at the inverse of scientific data, there are times when considering their deeper meaning can be illuminating. Take data just published by JAMA Network, illustrating that vacating school buildings across the U.S. in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant decline in not just incidence of COVID-19 (which fell by 62% per week over the study period) but also mortality (which dropped 58% per week)—all …

A Surprise Finding in a Study of Telemedicine and Children

One of the fears about use of telemedicine in urgent care is that providers might be inclined to overprescribe antibiotics, thereby stoking the already-dangerous trend of antimicrobial resistance. However, a new study conducted at Children’s National Hospital and published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine suggests that telehealth could actually help improve antibiotic stewardship. The study reflected 55,000 visits to a single hospital in 2018. Researchers tracked prescribing for bronchitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis, and upper …

Years After Being Accused, an Admission of Guilt—and a $12.5 Million Fine

One U.S.-based urgent care operator is paying a heavy price after pleading guilty to healthcare fraud and engaging in monetary transactions derived from unlawful activity. The company, which was first accused of inflating reimbursement rates by ordering unnecessary tests and systematically exaggerating the complexity of procedures several years ago, has now copped to the charges and has to pay a $12.5 million fine. That’s the amount the prosecution says equates to the bogus charges between …

Are You Prepared to Defend Yourself in Court? This Mock Trial Might Help You Figure It Out

You did everything you could to provide excellent, timely, ethical care for that patient with chest pain—to no avail. Now you’re being sued. Are you ready to defend yourself and your practice in court, with the entire enterprise riding on the outcome? JUCM Senior Clinical Editor Michael Weinstock, MD will preside over a virtual mock trial during the third annual Adena Thought Leaders Summit (ATLS) on Wednesday, September 9 from 10 am to 12:20 pm, Eastern. …