Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Urgent Care Is Well Represented on Virginia’s COVID-19 Testing Advisory Council

As state governments continue to grapple with trying to keep residents safe while also making plans to reopen the economy responsibly, some governors are looking to include healthcare experts in discussions. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is one—and Velocity Urgent Care CEO Alan Ayers, MBA, MAcc (who is also JUCM’s own senior editor, practice management) has been tapped to participate on the Virginia Department of Health COVID-19 Testing Advisory Council. Ayers will represent the clinical and …

Urgent Care Centers Are Stepping Up by Offering Free COVID-19 Testing

CityMD and ChoiceOne are among the growing numbers of urgent care operators who are offering no-cost COVID-19 to uninsured individuals at certain locations. New York City has estimated that CityMD is conducting 6,000 tests at 123 locations every day, currently. The city plans to deploy an “army of tracers” to follow up with contacts of those who test positive in the near future. Meanwhile, ChoiceOne is offering free testing to patients in its Baltimore, Caroline, …

Be Aware: Ill-Informed Patients Are Having COVID-19 ‘Parties’ to Build Herd Immunity

In a grim reminder of “chickenpox parties,” mainstream media from coast to coast are reporting on COVID-19 parties in which dozens of individuals gather to have a good time—and to spread the virus among themselves in a misguided effort to encourage immunity. Not surprisingly, public health officials in those areas are reporting anecdotally that patients who get diagnosed with COVID-19 mention they’ve attended such an event recently. One physician in Walla Walla County, WA told …

A Novel Virus Demands a Novel Approach to Billing and Coding. Are You Up to Speed?

If COVID-19 has taken frontline clinicians and public health experts by surprise, you can be sure the same is true of billing and coding professionals. JUCM has brought you updates as often as possible (see The Impact of Public Health Emergency on Revenue Cycle Management by Monte Sandler, executive vice president, revenue cycle management for Experity, for example), but as the situation evolves so must your approach. So, Experity and the Urgent Care Association collaborated …

UCA: More Urgent Care Centers Are Offering Telemedicine—and On-Site Visits Are Trending Up

Results of the latest “snapshot” survey from the Urgent Care Association indicate that things could be looking up, at last, for urgent care centers. While the sample size is small (103 respondents), the results indicate that at least some operators are expanding services and seeing downward trends reverse. For one thing, 80% of responding urgent care centers are now offering telemedicine services, with a median of five encounters per day. That doesn’t appear to be …

Kids Need to Maintain Regular Health Practices, too

We recently reported data indicating that the public in general is declining preventive care, and even going to the doctor when they have relatively minor complaints. Now an article published in JAMA Network Open reveals that children enrolled in Medicaid may be falling behind on recommended vaccination schedules out of fears that it isn’t safe to visit the pediatrician’s office. It’s likely, then, that children covered by every type of health plan are missing out …

COVID-19 Can Push Providers to the Brink of Burnout—How Are Your Coping Skills?

Recently, a New York City intern posted a blog in which she said her experience during the COVID-19 pandemic as left her feeling “so terribly, soul-crushingly helpless.” An article published in Physicians Practice noted that fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and guilt may be common feelings among providers who are overwhelmed with more patients than they can help. The same goes for urgent care providers who are worried about their jobs because their location has seen patient …

People Are Running, Biking, and Hiking Again. Are You Up to Speed on Treating Their Injuries?

Now that the weather is turning warmer in much of the country—coinciding with relaxed attitudes toward COVID-19 and a general need to get out of the house—many people are venturing outside to exercise for the first time in months. Undoubtedly, many of them are a bit rusty and may be inclined to overdo it and injure themselves in the process. According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, this may be a good time to …

Some Businesses Are Opening Up—and Need Guidance on Patients with COVID-19 Symptoms

Regardless of where you stand in the debate over the appropriate time to “open up” the country and see businesses return to relatively normal operations, it’s clear that there will still be people infected with COVID-19. If you offer occupational medicine services, it’s all but inevitable that some of them will be employed by your clients—who will be looking to you for guidance and care. A new article published online by BusinessTech suggests screening all …

No Surprise, but Confirmed: Smoking and COPD Are Linked to Higher COVID-19 Mortality

Patients with COVID-19 who are also current or former smokers or who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are at greater risk for severe complications and mortality than other COVID-19 patients, according to a study just published in the journal PLOS ONE. In analyzing data from 15 studies reflecting 2,473 patients with confirmed COVID-19, the researchers found that patients with COPD were at a higher risk of more severe disease (risk of severity = 63% compared …