Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Can You Really Trust Pulse Ox Readings? In Some Patients, Maybe Not

A new study published by JAMA Pediatrics suggests that pulse oximetry may be less reliable in Black patients with hypoxemia than in White patients, possibly resulting in undertreatment of hypoxemia in some patients. The authors based their findings on comparison of arterial blood oxygen saturation (SaO2) and pulse oximetry (SpO2) in 774 patients (74% classified as White and 26% classified as Black) between the 1 and 17 years of age at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. …

Prepare for More Young Patients; Pediatric Hospitals May Be the Next to Cut Back on Services

We reported just last week that a sharp downturn in physicians applying for obstetrics/gynecology residencies may portend a shortage in ob/gyns in hospitals and ultimately force some to reduce services. Now an opinion piece in MedPage Today suggests that children’s hospital consolidations, pediatric mental health crises, and acute surges like the one we saw recently with respiratory syncytial virus may force some institutions to look at reducing pediatric services. If that comes to pass, it’s …

Young Physicians May Be Losing Interest in Emergency Medicine. Is This an Opportunity for UC?

This year has seen record low interest in emergency medicine residency positions, with 555 unmatched positions (compared with 219 in 2022), according to an article published by MedPage Today. It’s not a sudden trend, either; between 2021 and 2022, applications to EM residencies dropped 16.8%. While the American College of Emergency Physicians is reportedly putting together a task force to grasp the reason for the decline (and to figure out a way to reverse it), …

CDC Is Sounding the Alarm Over a ‘New’ Resistant Fungal Infection Sweeping Across the U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has deemed Candida auris to be an emerging “urgent antimicrobial resistance (AR) threat” in the United States, owing to an alarming increase in cases—including cases that are resistant to echinocandins and other antifungal drugs. Echinocandin-resistant cases have tripled since 2021. A CDC announcement notes that C auris infection is most likely to occur in healthcare facilities and among patients with invasive medical devices. As such, urgent care providers …

Persistent Chatter About COVID and Ivermectin Doesn’t Jibe with Emerging Data

As more time and experience accumulate since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inevitable claims over therapies purported to be useful come and go, the idea that ivermectin could be curative has persisted on social media, in the blogosphere, and among popular podcasters. New data published by the Journal of the American Medical Association provide further evidence that there is no advantage to employing even high-dose ivermectin for patients with COVID-19, however. Researchers …

Spring Is Here, Ushering in More Tick-Borne Diseases Than Ever

As much of the country starts warming up to Spring temperatures and people head outside to enjoy nature, you can expect a return of patients concerned that they could have contracted an illness from tick bites. Not just a return, actually, but an increase as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that while incidence of tick-borne illness in general has risen 25% since 2011, the increase is especially acute in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, …

Patients Have a Hard Time Figuring Out When It’s Appropriate to Visit Urgent Care. Help Them Out

Community media resources are rife with articles and posts aiming to help readers understand when it makes sense to visit a hospital emergency room vs urgent care vs a retail pharmacy clinic. The Chicago-area Daily Herald just ran one listing complaints appropriate for presentation to various settings, for example. (For the record, their list for urgent care includes allergic reaction, sore throat, ear infection, sprains, animal bites, flu symptoms, minor burns and injuries, and broken …

Provider Shortages Are Hitting Some Specialties More Than Others. Will UC See the Overflow Patients?

We talk about the shortage of healthcare providers in appropriately urgent, though somewhat vague, terms. The fact is that some specialties are having a harder time than others right now, though—one of them being obstetrics and gynecology. According to a report published by Becker’s Hospital Review, 2023 applications for Ob/Gyn residencies are down from 2022. It goes on to note that numerous hospitals in the United States are closing or have already stopped offering obstetrics …

Do Business with the Federal Government? Stop Asking About Applicants’ Criminal Histories

In case you missed it, urgent care centers and other healthcare employers who have contracts with the federal government are now forbidden from asking prospective employees’ about their criminal history on applications or in the interview process. In fact, you’re not allowed to raise the question before you offer someone the job. The first time you’re allowed to raise the question is when you make a conditional offer of employment—after which you could open yourself …

Update: States Are Dropping Pandemic Rules for Healthcare Workers. What’s the Status in Yours?

Just last week we told you the federal government is allowing COVID-19 emergency declarations to expire without renewal for the first time since they were enacted to help protect the public and healthcare professionals from infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The first two—the national emergency declaration and the public health emergency—are set to expire on May 11. Now comes word that states are starting to rescind rules imposed during the pandemic. As reported by Becker’s …