Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Could the Postpandemic Era Mark the Right Time for Behavioral Health Urgent Care?

With increasing rates of depression and anxiety attributed to life changes over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic coinciding with (or perhaps causing) increased delays in seeing mental health professionals, it seems clear new solutions are needed in the behavioral health setting. With the traditional urgent care model now proven as an alternative to both primary care and the emergency room for most complaints, efforts are afoot to establish a new variety of urgent care …

As Predicted, Wait Times in the ED Are Pushing More Patients to Urgent Care

Just a couple of weeks ago, we reported that various hospital systems and municipal governments around the country were imploring patients to visit urgent care centers instead of hospital emergency rooms whenever it’s appropriate due to soaring wait times in EDs. That recommendation seems to have been adopted, as we’re already seeing local media reports of increased volume in UCCs. WTOC in Bryan County, GA, for one, reports that with area EDs being “overwhelmed with …

Yes, Long COVID Is Still a Thing—but Don’t Let the Symptoms Lead You Astray

With healthcare and mainstream media devoting so much energy to raising awareness of long COVID, it could be easy to write off some of the telltale signs—cognitive difficulties, headaches, pain, dizziness, fatigue, and others—as exactly that and look no further into alternative diagnoses. That could be a costly mistake for a patient’s wellbeing, though, as a new article published by the European Journal of Neurology reveals that some patients with those characteristic symptoms could actually …

As Another COVID-19 Surge Dawns, States with Low Vaccination Rates Seem Most at Risk

While the national rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths remain well below the levels we experienced at the height of the pandemic, data tracked by The New York Times indicate that the coming weeks could bring an uptick in new cases nationally. The latest report shows that several states are already seeing an upswing in confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Cases in Idaho soared 106% over the past 2 weeks, though deaths were down …

The Safety and Security of Your Center Are Under Assault. Is Your Team Prepared?

Trinity Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI had to shut its emergency room down due to a bomb threat one evening last week. It was just the latest in a series of threatened or actual violence at healthcare facilities in the United States. Last June, a former surgical patient went on a shooting spree at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, OK, killing four people and injuring several others before committing suicide. Then in …

X-Rays Are a Defining Urgent Care Attribute, but Times May Call for a Creative Approach

Of the many answers to the question What sets urgent care centers apart from retail clinics?, the ability to offer x-rays on site is high on the list. Some might call it one of urgent care’s distinguishing characteristics. It seems like the ability to continue doing so gets more challenging by the day, though. As JUCM readers know, one concern is a shortage of qualified radiologic technologists. And with the rapid growth of the industry, …

As ED Wait Times Grow Dangerously Long, Ensure You’re Ready for New Patients

Staffing shortages, provider burnout, and the general public’s full return to postpandemic normalcy are conspiring to create long waits in hospital emergency rooms—so long, in fact, that hospital administrators and local government officials are pleading with patients to visit urgent care and other walk-in or virtual healthcare providers when prudent. Statistically, patients heading to EDs in Maryland have it worst, as they’ll wait an average of 228 minutes to be seen as reported by The …

If You Treat a Lot of Seniors, You May Question Whether the Pandemic Is Really ‘Over’

By most accounts—and lots of data—infection rates, hospitalizations, and deaths related to SARS-CoV-2 have declined sufficiently to consider the pandemic over. Zoom in on that big picture, however, and you may find that the older segment of the U.S. population is still struggling with the virus on a grand scale. According to an article published by The New York Times, approximately 90% of January 2023 COVID-related deaths in the United States occurred among patients between …

Counsel, Don’t Routinely Screen Asymptomatic, High-Risk Patients for Genital Herpes

Counseling is more important than routine screening of patients perceived to be at high risk for genital herpes, at least in the absence of symptoms, according to an updated guidance from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. One caveat is that patients known to have genital herpes but who are between outbreaks are not considered to be asymptomatic. The recommendation also does not apply to patients …

Remember the Pandemic Obsession with Hand Hygiene? That Poses Its Own Risks

The potentially lifesaving necessity of maintaining proper hand hygiene was drilled into us ad nauseum over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like all good things, however, overdoing it carries its own hazards. According to new guidance published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, excessive handwashing and even the length of a worker’s fingernails can increase risk for infection in that individual and those they come in contact with. Providers and other patient-facing team members, …