Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Hospitals Cancel Procedures During CrowdStrike Crash

Last week’s CrowdStrike software crash left some health systems in emergency downtime situations, while others ended up delaying patients’ medical procedures, according to Healthcare Dive. The crash has been characterized in Becker’s as “worse than a cyberattack.” The American Hospital Association also said: “These disruptions are resulting in some clinical procedure delays, diversions, or cancellations. Impact is also being felt indirectly as a result of local emergency call centers being down.” Some scheduling, check-in, and …

GLP-1 Drugs Increasingly Used For Weight, Not Diabetes

A nationwide population-based study on prescribing trends published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found a significant increase in new users of GLP-1 receptor agonists who don’t have a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. The proportion of new GLP-1 users with type 2 diabetes decreased from nearly 90% to about 70% from 2019 to 2023, according to a separate analysis of the findings in MedPage Today. Meanwhile, new users tend to be those prescribed the …

Hospital Pediatric Capability Levels Suggested

A study of 1,061 hospitals recently published in JAMA Network Open offers a classification of 4 levels of pediatric clinical capability, based on the parameters of the services provided by the hospitals. The hope is that outcomes and care delivery can be compared in a way that is more of an “apples-to-apples” approach using the 4 pediatric hospital capability levels developed by the authors. For urgent care centers, such classifications could be handy for triaging …

CDC In Colorado to Manage Bird Flu Outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has sent a 9-member team of epidemiologists, veterinarians, and clinicians, plus an industrial hygienist, to Colorado to assist with managing a bird flu outbreak affecting both humans and poultry, according to the agency. Colorado reported 4 confirmed human cases of the infection and a possible 5th case earlier this week. As part of the ongoing evaluation, additional samples are being tested with the anticipation of additional cases …

Cyberattack Costs UnitedHealth $2.45B Against Profitable Q2

UnitedHealth Group—the parent company of Change Healthcare, which is still reeling from a massive data breach in February—raised its forecast regarding the financial impact of the cyberattack to as much as $2.45 billion on the year. That’s more than double its previous estimate. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth reported Q2 profits of $4.2 billion and revenue increases of nearly 7%, according to Healthcare Dive. After input from federal officials a few weeks ago, the company was put on-task …

Urgent Care For Kids Deal Adds 11 Locations

Urgent Care for Kids in Houston, Texas, this week announced the acquisition of 11 Pediatrix Medical Group Primary + Urgent Care clinics, formerly operating under the NightLight Pediatrics Urgent Care brand. Since its establishment in 2011, Urgent Care for Kids has offered traditional urgent care as well as telehealth services, and with the acquisition, brings its total number of clinic locations to 23. Portfolio peek: Urgent Care for Kids is a subsidiary of Goodside Health, …

Sepsis Procedures and Training Now Required For UC Centers in Maryland

A newly minted law in Maryland requires hospitals and urgent care centers to develop evidence-based protocols and education for the early recognition and treatment of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock. And there’s a sense of urgency to develop new programs quickly because the clinical enhancements must be implemented on or before January 1, 2025. The policy is also known as “Lochlin’s Law,” named after a child who died of sepsis after a case of …

AMA: Burnout Levels Slowly Improving for Physicians

The percentage of physicians experiencing at least 1 symptom of burnout has fallen below 50% for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the American Medical Association (AMA). The AMA’s 2023 annual survey, which included more than 12,400 physicians from 31 states, revealed a slow decline in burnout from a peak of 62.8% in 2021. Reported burnout levels fell to 53% in 2022 and further decreased to 48.2% in the most recent …

Study Finds New Semaglutide Benefits, No Link to Suicidal Thoughts

A study published in the Lancet last week investigated millions of U.S. medical records to determine whether semaglutide increased the risk of neurological and psychiatric conditions within the first year of use compared to 3 other common antidiabetic medications. Authors found no association between semaglutide and a higher risk of the 22 studied conditions (eg, psychosis; bipolar disorder; depression; anxiety; opioid and alcohol use disorder; etc.). In fact, patients on semaglutide showed lower rates of …

Health Leaders Less Worried About Cost Reduction: Survey

For years, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions annual survey of healthcare finance leaders found cost reduction was consistently among the top 3 priorities for organizations. However, the latest survey indicates a shift: cost reduction has now fallen to the bottom of the list of priorities—suddenly ranking at number 17 out of 17 choices. At the same time, around 25% of finance leaders reported missing their operating margin targets over the past 3 years. Behind …