Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Urgent Care Leads the Way in Reducing ED Visits in Utah

The Utah Department of Health specifically called out greater utilization of urgent care as a key factor in reducing emergency room visits across the state—along with a corresponding decrease in associated costs, of course. While the report did not put a dollar amount on the savings, it does note that an average trip to the ED in the state costs five-and-a-half times more than an urgent care visit. Since the state DoH reports that around …

Reducing Occ Med Opioid Prescriptions Is Simpler than You Might Think

A new study by Mitchell International and the WCF Mutual Insurance Company showed a strong downward trend in prescriptions for opioid medications after relatively simple measures were introduced on the part of the insurer. The number of opioids prescribed fell 56% in 18 months after the company started flagging prescriptions for more than 14 days of medication. When such prescriptions were written, WCF either declined to cover the full amount or flat-out rejected them. Further, …

Concussion Protocols Are Now Coming into Play Legally

The risk for concussion among young athletes is a constant concern that comes into sharper focus every fall, when young athletes don helmets and shoulder pads and head out on the gridiron. Now a former Idaho high school football player is taking his old school district to court, charging that he was told it was safe to get back out on the field just 2 weeks after being concussed back in 2017. The $300,000 suit …

New Data Affirm Effective Treatment for Acute Urticaria

New research revealed at the recent Annual Meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians shows that intravenous cetirizine is noninferior to IV diphenhydramine in the treatment of acute urticaria, with a better safety profile. The researchers randomized 262 adult patients with acute urticaria who presented to 1 of 19 EDs or urgent care centers from March 2017 to April 2018 to receive either 50 mg IV diphenhydramine or 10 mg IV cetirizine. Primary endpoint …

CDC Report: Antibiotic Resistance Is Killing More Americans Than Ever

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention again promoting U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (November 18–24) to patients and clinicians alike, new data underscore the deadly consequences of failing to heed accepted prescribing guidelines. The CDC’s 2019 Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report reveals that roughly 35,000 American die every year due to drug-resistant infections, whereas in years past the estimate was approximately 23,000 fatalities. Total number of antibiotic-resistant infections is over 2.8 million. As the CDC …

Mixed Emotions: Most Physicians Trust Patients with Opioids, but Fear a New Drug Crisis

Physicians’ perspectives on prescribing opioid pain medications continue to be wildly contradictory, even in the midst of a national crisis, if the results of a recent Harris Poll commissioned by Quest Diagnostics is any indication. Nearly three quarters (72%) said they trust their patients to take controlled substances as prescribed, even though 51% of test results for patients who had been prescribed an opioid or other controlled medication showed signs of drug misuse—and 24% showed …

Behavioral Health Services Continue to Grow in Urgent Care

Just last week, we told you that Tennessee-based Fast Pace Urgent Care was making an effort to bring behavioral health services to underserved rural communities across the South. Now comes word that another regional operator is following suit. Zoom+Care is going to start offering same-day mental health appointments, either in-person or virtually, through two of its Bellevue, WA locations. In announcing the initiative, Zoom+Care reasoned that people in crisis often have to wait days or …

Want More Time with Patients—and to Be Compensated for It? CMS Might Have That

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has finalized a rule intended to ease cumbersome—and time-consuming—billing and coding requirements and increase reimbursements for services clinicians are already providing (such as those related to certain chronic illnesses). At the heart of the new system is an overhaul of the Evaluation and Management structure, which was designed and implemented in the mid-1990s, before the explosion of urgent care, widespread use of electronic health records, and secure data …

Amazon Is Wading Deeper into Primary Care—Internally (for Now, at Least)

Amazon is investing more resources into Amazon Care, its in-house primary care program in Seattle. The company announced it’s buying Health Navigator, which provides technology and other services to digital health companies. While the financial details of the deal are undisclosed, last year Amazon plunked down $753 million to buy the online pharmacy company PillPack. The message is that they’re betting heavily that they can realize substantial cost savings by facilitating primary care for employees …

Join JUCM and the CDC to Get Involved—and Save Lives—During Antibiotic Awareness Week

You know the numbers—some 23,000 American die every year from drug-resistant infections, painting a clear but ugly picture of the effects of inappropriate use of antibiotics. You probably also know, fundamentally, that reducing the number of prescriptions written will help reduce that risk. The question of how to do so is a bit more challenging, especially now that cold and flu season is upon us and driving herds of antibiotic-seeking patients to your facility. Aware …