Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

County Questions CA Hospital’s Closure of UC Clinic

Sonoma Specialty Hospital in Sebastopol, California, just 5 years ago was facing bankruptcy, but a sale helped to keep the facility’s doors open while also adding inpatient beds. However, the hospital’s current owner, American Advanced Management, has not made good on its obligation to operate an urgent care (UC) center to serve patients after the closure of the original hospital’s emergency department. Sonoma County is now seeking $1.3 million in loan repayment from the owners …

Goldman Sachs Acquires Xpress Wellness

Goldman Sachs Alternatives recently announced its acquisition of Xpress Wellness, LLC. Xpress Wellness is affiliated with a physician-led rural healthcare platform that includes urgent care clinics serving Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. The deal is positioned to accelerate the development of new and existing markets as well as to build out additional healthcare services, according to a press release. Recent moves: Within the portfolio of Latticework Capital Management since 2018, Xpress Wellness opened 30 de novos …

EHRs Haven’t Captured Prevalence of Long COVID

Long COVID is possibly more prevalent than what might be recorded in electronic health record (EHR) diagnostic or referral codes, according to a descriptive study in eClinicalMedicine. Researchers analyzed clinical data from more than 19 million adults in England from November 2020 to January 2023. A total of 55,465 patients were identified with long COVID, based on 20,025 diagnostic codes and 35,440 referral codes. Median follow-up was 2.2 years, and the rate of long COVID …

Panel Recommends Treatments for Pediatric Vitiligo

A clinical panel recently issued dozens of recommendations for treating vitiligo in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients, as published in a consensus statement in JAMA Dermatology. The main conclusions point out that topical calcineurin inhibitors, topical corticosteroids, and topical Janus kinase inhibitors are effective treatments for vitiligo in these age groups. Treatment decisions should also consider factors such as the location of vitiligo, body surface area affected, age, and other patient-specific factors. Perhaps a …

Nevada Doc Launches Mobile Pediatric Care

A pediatrician hit the road recently with Incredicare, a mobile pediatric urgent care that serves 4 communities in the Las Vegas area. Incredicare was founded by Robert Wilkinson, MD, a dual-boarded physician in general pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine who serves as the medical director of the pediatric emergency department at Summerlin Hospital. Four nurse practitioners also see patients in the colorful mobile clinic vehicle that’s decorated with a cartoon bear. Services include the typical …

Program Seeks Clever Cyberattack Patches for Health Devices

Federal leaders are increasing their efforts to address healthcare cyberattacks, hard on the heels of the recent Change Healthcare and Ascension breeches. A $50 million program was announced this week to encourage the development of practical tech tools that would effectively disconnect healthcare devices such as heart monitors and electrocardiogram machines when needed then fix the weakness before bringing the machines back online. The aim is to identify vulnerabilities and customize patches that could be …

In Maryland, Supervised Staff Can Now Capture X-Rays

Maryland has finalized licensure-exception legislation to create a limited-scope x-ray technologist role that urgent care centers can now leverage to help extend the services their staff can provide. No license is required, but there are some criteria techs must meet, such as clinical experience, hours of training, and supervision by a licensed physician or radiologic technologist. The good news is that the staff who qualify can capture x-rays for almost any common concern, including spine, …

New HPV Screen Allows for Simplified Patient Self-Collection

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a testing protocol that allows patients to collect their own vaginal samples for human papillomavirus (HPV) screening in healthcare settings—including urgent care. It’s significant because it allows for HPV primary testing without the need for a traditional Pap smear performed with a speculum. The self-collected samples must still be sent to labs for analysis. While a Pap smear can potentially detect abnormalities in the cervix, the new HPV …

Ascension Wrestling With Cyberattack

Ascension Healthcare, with 140 hospitals and more than 50 urgent cares in 19 states, was impacted by a cyberattack earlier this month, forcing ambulances to divert and pharmacies to shut down. The system disconnected from its Epic EHR, which caused long emergency department wait times and care delays. Ascension has not given a timeline for when its systems will be fully restored, according to Healthcare Dive on its cyberattack state-by-state tracker. How much: When Change …

Patients Do Well With Hypertension Self-Care

A randomized clinical trial of 219 patients with uncontrolled hypertension showed in a secondary analysis that self-management programs including home blood pressure monitoring and self-titration of antihypertensive medication resulted in good outcomes. Published in JAMA Network Open, the study found significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (adjusted mean difference, −3.4 mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (adjusted mean difference, −2.5 mm Hg) at 24 months. What’s more, patients had no increase in the use of …