JUCM News has reported on individual incidents of assaults on healthcare workers and patients periodically. Unfortunately, such events happen so often that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services felt it necessary to issue a memorandum reminding hospital employers that they’re obligated to have measures in place to protect staff and patients from on-site violence. The background data may be surprising. Citing a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CMS noted that 73% of …
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As If RSV, COVID, and Flu Aren’t Enough, Another Viral Threat Is Emerging
We’ve told you about the very real threat of a tripledemic as the current influenza season progresses, new variants of COVID-19 continue to evolve, and record cases of respiratory syncytial virus occur in various states. Ohio is now wrestling with an additional—and surprising—viral entity. As of this writing, at least 46 cases of measles have been confirmed in children in the Columbus area, according to the city’s health department. There have been no fatalities, but …
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The Threat of a Tripledemic Is Getting More Real—and Urgent Care Is on the Front Lines
In an average year, 35 states reporting “high” or “very high” levels of influenza would be concerning. In the 2022–23 flu season, with record levels of respiratory syncytial virus and new variants COVID-19 continuing to emerge, it’s downright alarming. That’s where we are, though, according to the latest Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The situation is so dire in the Pacific Northwest that KOIN News invoked the …
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When Communicating with Patients, Tone Matters—and the Wrong One Can Cost You
Whether it’s declining to prescribe an antibiotic you know isn’t necessary to a patient who insists that it is or working through a billing issue, conflicts with patients are going to arise in your urgent care center. And when they do, how the matter is handled can make the difference between having a respectful disagreement and getting blasted online (or worse). An extreme example is playing out across mainstream and social media right now, as …
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A ‘Doctor’ by Any Other Name…Could Be Cause for Sanction
Nurses who go to the necessary lengths to earn their Doctor of Nursing Practice degree deserve to be addressed as “Dr.” in correspondence and when interacting with colleagues and patients. Apparently there’s a thin line between that and self-reference, however. As reported in a post on Nurse.org, a nurse practitioner who did earn her DNP has been fined $19,000 by the County of San Louis Obispo (California) District Attorney’s Office for calling herself “Dr. Sarah” …
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Amazon Is Taking Another Run at Drawing Patients with Urgent Care Presentations
Let it never be said that Amazon isn’t persistent in its pursuit of relevance in the U.S. healthcare marketplace. What can be said is that the company has yet to hit on a concept that really works, despite years of trying. The latest effort is Amazon Clinic, which reflects a return to chasing success in the virtual space. (As we reported in August, the company plucked down $3.9 billion to buy One Medical and its …
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Update: Amoxicillin and Clavulanate Products Will Continue to Be in Short Supply
JUCM News reported nearly a month ago on a scarcity of oral presentations of amoxicillin and clavulanate. Now, as we enter the season of large gatherings in close quarters, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reports that 29 products from Aurobindo, Hikma, Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals, Sandoz, and Teva are all continuing to report shortages for undisclosed reasons. Resupply dates vary by supplier, but across the board fulfilment could happen anywhere from late November to early …
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The Early Winter Forecast: Chilly with a Chance of COVID
As temperatures fall in much of the United States new hospitalizations for COVID-19 are expected to start climbing again, according to projections from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And, as reported in Becker’s Hospital Review, a forecast from the Mayo Clinic says we can expect a steep but short-lived 51.5% increase in new cases between now and December 2. It seems likely, then, that urgent care centers will see an increase in patients …
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Free JUCM Webinar: STI’s Are Heating Up. Find Out What Role Urgent Care (and You) Can Play
As cases of COVID-19 (and restrictions like social distancing) took hold in the United States, an interesting thing happened. Spread of many other communicable diseases declined. Sexually transmitted infections were among them. Conversely, as the pandemic has cooled down and people are returning to past behaviors, STIs are surging to prepandemic levels—and beyond. To make matters worse, a lot of STI specialty clinics that used to shoulder much of the assessment-and-treatment burden have shut down. …
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Showing That You ‘Understand’ Individual Patients Could Go a Long Way Toward Ensuring Their Satisfaction
Everybody wants to be recognized and understood—whatever that means in a given scenario. When that scenario is a patient in need of care, the feeling that their healthcare provider understands them as an individual goes a long way—a very long way—toward how they experience their care. In fact, according to a report from NRC Health, patients who felt like they were treated “as a unique person” during a hospital experience were 295% more likely to …
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