Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

FDA Wants Some Gloves to Take a Powder

The Food and Drug Administration wants to ban most powdered gloves from exam rooms, as well as operating rooms. The ban would apply to powdered surgeon’s gloves, powdered patient examination gloves, and absorbable powder for lubricating a surgeon’s glove. The FDA says the risk that synthetic proteins in the gloves can cause airway inflammation, wound inflammation, and postprocedure adhesions is too great to allow their continued use. If finalized, the ban would force withdrawal of …

Data Show More Institutions Getting into the Urgent Care Market

Hospital chains and insurance companies continue to invest in urgent care centers at an ever-increasing pace, while also forging partnerships with independently owned clinics, according to a report from Merchant Medicine. The perception is that as Americans live to an older age—and stay active longer while doing it—they want more convenient care for nonemergent injuries while maintaining a relationship with institutions they’ve come to trust. Current data from the Urgent Care Association (UCA) show that …

Difficult Patients May Be More Difficult to Diagnose

As the difficulty in dealing with a patient goes up, diagnostic accuracy goes down, according to a new report published in BMJ Quality and Safety. The complexity of the ultimate diagnosis and the amount of time spent with the patient appear to have no bearing on the probability of making a correct diagnosis. The article is based on two studies in the Netherlands that showed physicians were more likely to misdiagnose patients who exhibited “disruptive …

Tab for ‘Affordable’ Care Act Jumps $136 Billion

Six years after its inception, government forecasts concerning the cost of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) continue to climb. Now the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the bill over the next decade will be approximately 11% higher than predicted just a year ago—that’s an extra $136 billion, for a total of $1.34 trillion over that time. The CBO chalks the greater cost up to higher-than-expected enrollment in the expanded Medicaid program established by …

CDC Quantifies Advice on Sex, Conception in the Time of Zika

Just a week after issuing its previous advisory, the Centers for Disease Control is already refining recommended precautions men and women need to take before engaging in sexual contact or attempting to conceive. Men with potential exposure (ie, travel or residence in an active outbreak area) should not engage in unprotected sex for at least 8 weeks after the exposure ends. Advice to use condoms or abstain from sex also applies to currently pregnant women …

Next Round of HIPPA Audits Aim to Prevent Data Breaches

Electronic health records have fostered easier access to vital information—clearly a benefit to providers and patients—but they’ve also been the font of data breaches involving the records of nearly 33 million individuals since 2009. Part of the problem lies with dishonest or inept contractors (or “business associates”) that may not have the expertise to construct proper security measures. Now those business associates are going to be targeted for HIPPA audits by the Department of Health …

Pilot Program Underscores Need to Contract as an Urgent Care Center

A pilot program aimed at making it easier to keep insurers’ provider directories up to date could benefit urgent care entities that contract as such—and make it harder for those that don’t to draw patients. The six-month program, sponsored by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), will offer more than 100,000 providers in California, Indiana, and Florida the luxury of informing just one point of contact about any changes in their practice instead of having to …

Update: More Zika Cases in More States

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says there have been 258 cases of Zika virus in the U.S., with 35 states reporting at least one confirmed case—up from 29 states counted just two weeks prior. Florida has seen the most (59), followed by New York (42) and Texas (34). Connecticut and New Mexico reported their first confirmed cases during that time. While most cases are still presumed to be travel-related, it is thought …

Aetna-Humana Merger Bears Close Scrutiny from the Justice Department

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division has vowed to look “very, very carefully” at the implications of the proposed merger between Aetna and Humana. At the heart of their consideration will be how less competition among insurers will affect the price and availability of care for consumers. If the deal is ultimately approved by the government, there will be only three large, national insurance providers. A growing number of states are raising concerns about …

Survey: ‘New Front Door to Healthcare’ is Opening Wider

Alternative sites of care—the proverbial “new front door to healthcare”—are being considered acceptable to a greater number and wider range of patients as time goes on, according to a new survey by Oliver Wyman’s Health & Life Science Practice. For purposes of the survey, those “alternative” sites include urgent care, retails clinics, and telehealth. While the benefits to the patient—greater access and power to make decisions—are self-evident, Oliver Wyman estimates at least $200 billion is …