Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Antimicrobial-Resistant Gonorrhea Becomes Global Concern

Canada’s public health agency has reported an increase in antimicrobial-resistant gonococcal infections. Data on 3,377 gonorrhea cases revealed that over a span of 2 years, antimicrobial-resistant gonococcal infections increased while gonococcal cultures demonstrating resistance rose from 24.8% in 2020 to 44.5% in 2021. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was most prevalent, rising from 46.6% of cases in 2020 to 63.1% in 2021. More than 80% of the gonorrhea cases studied were among males, and 55.5% of those …

NPs Advocate for Independent Practice in Texas

In Texas, nurse practitioners (NPs) are advocating for legislation that would allow them to practice independently without physician oversight. Texas is 1 of just 11 states that require such supervision. Although the policy proposal still has a long way to go, medical professionals are using the interim to chime in on the pros and cons—including the enhanced capabilities with physician-led care as well as the costs of physician engagement, which could start at $50,000 a …

EDs See Summer Surge of COVID-19 Cases

Cases of COVID-19 have surged in emergency departments (EDs) over recent weeks, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and surges are now demonstrating upward slopes that could lead to peaks similar to what communities might expect in the cooler months of fall. The weekly average of ED patients with COVID-19 has reached 1.18% in the United States overall but 2.9% in Florida, making the “sunshine state” a leader …

Staff Salary Survey Provides Benchmarks

A recent survey conducted by Physicians Practice provides some benchmarking insight for operators regarding staff salaries. According to survey respondents, more than a quarter of them say their full-time nurse practitioners earn within the range of $100,000-$125,000; only a small percentage earn less than $75,000 a year. As for medical assistants, the largest portion of survey respondents (37%) pin those salaries in the range of $30,000 to $40,000 a year with another 23% saying they …

Walmart Shopping Around Its Shuttered Health Clinics

According to several news outlets, Walmart has been in the boardroom with Humana to discuss a potential sale of the Walmart Health clinics that have closed up shop in recent weeks after Walmart decided to get out of the business. Most likely, Humana—a large managed care organization with 674,000 covered lives—won’t be the only possible suitor for the clinics. Humana already operates CenterWell Senior Primary Care with 250 clinics in 40 states, so it has …

When to Consider Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in the Differential

A new study in Emerging Infections Diseases describes 5 children who had Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) and manifested clinical symptoms similar to multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in Mexico. Although the number of cases was small, it may be an important differential because Rocky Mountain spotted fever can progress rapidly to death or severe illness if appropriate antimicrobial drug therapy is not delivered within the first 5 days after illness onset. Among the 5 cases, …

Boston Health Leaders Agree to Direct Patients to Urgent Care This Summer

Healthcare leaders in eastern Massachusetts have agreed to a 90-day collaborative initiative to address the expected surge in local emergency department visits this summer, according to NBC Boston. Plans call for directing more patients to urgent care facilities when appropriate. Last week, the state department of insurance issued a memo detailing plans for insurers and urgent care providers aimed at managing the “typically high” volume of emergency room visits from July 3 to October 1. …

Flu and COVID Vaccines Recommended for Pretty Much Everyone This Fall

In a new brief, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine and flu vaccine once the updated formulations become available this fall—ideally aiming for vaccination in September or October. A few distinct situations have varying dosing schedules for flu vaccines. Just as one example, CDC said adults (especially those 65 years old and older) and pregnant moms in the first …

Patients Confused by ‘Urgent Care’ Label on Hospital EDs

How free-standing emergency departments (EDs) present themselves to the community continues to cause confusion for patients, ultimately leading to unexpectedly higher medical bills and negative overall experiences. Some free-standing EDs have the term “urgent care” in their name, which many believe is misleading. And now there is at least one effort to investigate a class action lawsuit for patients who accessed what they believed was urgent care—based on the facility’s sign out front—only to find …