Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Loss of Taste or Smell a Less Likely COVID-19 Symptom

Clinical teams are facing some difficulty in distinguishing between COVID-19, allergies, and the common cold this season because some traditional COVID-19 symptoms—such as dry cough and loss of taste or smell—have now become less common. The Zoe COVID Symptom Study in the UK supports this trend, with physicians observing milder disease, mostly concentrated in the upper respiratory tract. Sore throat was often identified as the first noticeable symptom, as reported in an NBC News article. …

Urgent Care Pay to Start at $25 Per Hour Minimum in California

A bill that has found its way through the California Legislature aims to raise minimum wages for healthcare workers. Those who work in urgent care centers are specifically called out in measures included in SB 525. Governor Gavin Newsome has until October 14 to sign or veto the bill. According to Cal Matters, the amended version of the policy has the support of the state’s hospital association, employers, and labor groups. How it rolls out: …

Some Patients Wait 5.5 Hours in the ED Before Giving Up

About 3% of patients leave emergency departments (EDs) without being seen, according to a federal data set that was summarized in Becker’s Hospital Review. State information analyzed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) demonstrates the variability in wait times in the ED before patients leave. Patients in North Dakota walk out after a median wait time of 108 minutes—the shortest time span. By comparison, patients in Washington, D.C., wait a median of …

Retail Competition Makes UC’s Path Forward Clear

New state laws have expanded the scope of practice for pharmacists, allowing consumers to access a longer list of health services at their local retail shop. Walmart, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and CVS Health are embracing the opportunities, aiming to boost their healthcare revenue from privately insured populations. According to a Bloomberg article, each of the retailers is rolling out everything from on-site symptom evaluation and testing to medication prescribing and treatment—all delivered by pharmacists—in 10 …

College Event Encourages Use of UC

Level Up MD Urgent Care recently presented an educational event at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey, designed to equip resident assistants with skills to address emergency health and safety concerns in student residence halls. Information focused on first-aid procedures as well as best practices to protect people from exposure to bodily fluids or bloodborne pathogens. There’s more: Discussions at the event included direct information about Level Up MD Urgent Care’s operational hours, location, and …

Older Women Experience More Falls Than Men

According to new data analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), patterns in nonfatal and fatal falls among those age 65 and older vary not only by sex but also by the state in which the person lives. An analysis of 2020 data demonstrated that 14 million older adults had fallen during the previous year. More women (28.9%) reported falling than men (26.1%), and the percentage of older adults who had fallen …

Friday Night Lights Lead to Urgent Care

Intermountain’s Saltzer Health expanded its services this month to include an orthopedic clinic open on Friday nights, specifically designed to care for injured athletes. The service is available at its 24-hour urgent care location known as Ten Mile in Meridian, Idaho, every Friday from 8 to 11 PM. How patients benefit: With the back-to-school season, every community is teeming with young athletes participating in Friday night sporting events. Rather than accessing the emergency department and …

More PAs Choose the Urgent Care Setting

Just over 10% of certified physician assistants (PAs) with a specialty in emergency medicine worked in the urgent care practice setting in 2022, according to the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants in its recent statistical profile of PAs. Here’s the good news: While 10% is a small subset of the PA workforce within the emergency medicine category, it’s a significant jump from the 6.6% who reported working in UC settings in the commission’s …

Staff Shortages Inspire Creative Hiring Solutions

Total Access Urgent Care in the St. Louis area has temporarily closed five locations because of staffing shortages, according to Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations Kelly Baynes, as reported by the local Fox News station. Elsewhere in town, 24/7 Urgent Care has also closed two of its locations. Baynes confirmed the Total Access centers will reopen with appropriate staff and told the station the company recently launched an EMT class to attract job seekers to …

Atlanta’s New Drive-Through Urgent Care Is One To Watch

Now open in Atlanta, DriveThru Urgent Care by Viral Solutions promises exactly what its name implies: Patients can receive a selection of care services without leaving their vehicles. According to company officials, Viral Solutions tested nearly 4 million curbside patients for COVID-19 during the pandemic, an activity which laid the groundwork for this drive-through urgent care model, which specializes in testing for and treating seasonal respiratory illnesses. The center is open seven days a week …