Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

It’s Time to ‘Invite’ Patients Back to Your Urgent Care Center—for Their Health and Your Economic Survival

Urgent care operators have suffered great economic hardship as many patients have ignored the need for same-day care because they were afraid of venturing out to a healthcare facility. The consequences of such decisions are even more perilous for the patient, of course. Some people may still be hesitant, so it’s time to be proactive in reminding them that you’re available to provide immediate, high-quality, safe care. Lifespan Urgent Care in Warwick, RI took that …

CDC: We Can Tame the Pandemic in a Couple of Months—with Uniform Buy-In on Masks

Being “forced” to where a mask in a retail establishment has become a volatile subject lately, with the nightly news and social media recounting tales of sometimes violent confrontations between proprietors who insist on masks and prospective patrons who feel such a mandate infringes on their individual rights. Lost in this are the facts that such rules 1) are well within the rights of shopkeepers to establish and 2) are intended to save lives. Robert …

Urgent Care Is Fighting to Be Recognized in Future COVID-19 Testing Initiatives. Are You In?

As new cases of COVID-19 around the country creep up (or skyrocket, depending on where you’re located) it’s evident that there will be a surge in testing for the virus. Inexplicably, urgent care was largely overlooked as a viable partner in widespread testing when the pandemic first took off in the U.S.—but the Urgent Care Association is striving to ensure that doesn’t happen again. UCA has been collecting data on urgent care operators’ testing capabilities, …

Walgreens Amps Up Efforts to Become a Primary Care Player

JUCM News readers may recall that Walgreens established a partnership with VillageMD to open primary care clinics in connection with Walgreens locations around the country. The company is moving ahead in a big way now, announcing plans to open between 500 and 700 such clinics over the next 5 years. Besides putting pharmacists and primary care providers in the same location, Walgreens says it will also offer telehealth services and at-home visits under the partnership’s …

Here’s One More Dire Reason to Be Aware of Fasting Blood Glucose in COVID-19

We told you recently about a pair of studies out of China that suggested elevated fasting blood glucose could be a risk factor for severe disease in patients with COVID-19. Now a third study using the same data pool paints an even darker picture, with the authors concluding that a fasting blood glucose level ≥7.0 mmol/L in patients without a previous diagnosis of diabetes is an independent predictor for higher 28-day mortality. The odds ratio …

Patients—and Providers—Need to Know COVID-19 Symptoms Linger Even After Recovery

Don’t be surprised if patients who have “recovered” from COVID-19 present with concerns that they might not be getting better after all. A research letter just published online by JAMA Network indicates that most patients have persistent symptoms of infection even 60+ days after diagnosis. Based on 143 confirmed cases in Italy, they report that 87.4 of patients complained of at least one symptoms of COVID-19 even after meeting World Health Organization criteria for discontinuing …

UCA Webinar: If Your Urgent Care Center Doesn’t ‘Do Digital,’ You Don’t Compete

Friction is something to be avoided, typically, whether it’s in coworker relationships, marriage, or even your car’s engine. The same holds true when trying to engage prospective patients in an urgent care center. Anything that adds a burden to the patient’s attempt to get care—unnecessary steps, unexpected waits, billing headaches—will make them think twice about where they choose to get that care. Reducing friction, conversely, gives them a pleasant experience they’re more likely to want …

How Will New Details of the Paycheck Protection Program Affect Your Urgent Care Center?

The Small Business Administration just released new details of its Paycheck Protection Program—including which businesses (including urgent care centers) will be identified publicly by name; the status of “loan forgiveness” considerations; and extension of the PPP through August 8. The SBA released the names of businesses that borrowed more than $150,000 through the PPP. Businesses that borrowed less remain anonymous. The SBA has not started accepting applications for loan forgiveness yet. Banks that are facilitating …

Data Reveal a New Risk Factor for Severe Illness with COVID-19—Are You Vigilant for It?

Two new studies have shown that elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG), whether a patient has been diagnosed with diabetes or not, could be a risk factor for severe illness in patients with COVID-19. Authors of the first study, based on patients at a hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, found an FBG of ≥6.23 mmol/L to be an optimal cutoff for poor prognosis within 30 days of hospital admission, …

Look into the Patient’s Eyes—They May Hold Additional Clues to Their COVID-19 Status

A clearer picture of the effects of COVID-19 on the eyes of infected patients is emerging in new data from Hubei province, China. Researchers there have found ocular manifestations including epiphora, conjunctival congestion, and other conditions occur commonly in patients with confirmed COVID-19. While the retrospective study was small (38 patients), it produced several results that could be helpful to urgent care providers who treat patients without other, more definitive signs of disease. Roughly one …