Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Practice Management

 

Urgent Care News

Take 5 Antibiotic Stewardship, 5-Day Antibiotic Prescribing

Campaign Increases Urgent Care Adherence to 5-Day Antibiotic Prescribing

In a quasi-experimental study involving 2 Denver Health urgent care centers, an antibiotic stewardship program …
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Urgent CA PA Pay

Urgent Care Among Top Paid Specialties For PAs

According to a compensation survey analyzed by Beckers, physician assistants (PAs) in urgent care earn …
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Smartwatch Launches With Hypertension Detection

Smartwatch Launches With Hypertension Detection Feature

The seemingly ubiquitous Apple smartwatch now has another feature that could be useful in screening …
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Staff Social Media Policies

Reasons To Reinforce Staff Social Media Policies 

Several urgent care workers in Santa Barbara, California, were terminated from employment recently after making …
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Nasal Spray to Prevent COVID

OTC Allergy Nasal Spray Could Protect Against COVID Infection: Phase 2 Study

A phase 2 clinical trial found that azelastine nasal spray could potentially prevent COVID-19 infections …
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Original Research 

Short Course Systemic Glucocorticoid Prescribing in Urgent Care Clinics

Analysis of Short Course Systemic Glucocorticoid Prescribing in Urgent and Convenient Care Clinics

Urgent Message: Across a tristate urgent care and convenient care network, systemic steroid use occurred …
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HIV Screening in the Urgent Care

Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality Improvement Project for Expanding HIV Screening in the Urgent Care Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Citation: Hunt E, Greger M, Shipley N. Brief Report: PrEPare for Action – A Quality …
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Asthma in Pediatric Urgent Care

Brief Report: A Pilot Quality and Feasibility Project Focusing on Clinician Use of an Order Set for Acute Asthma Care in Pediatric Urgent Care Centers

Urgent Message: There are limited data on implementation and use of clinical decision support tools …
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Cephalexin for Uncomplicated Cystitis

Comparing Outcomes for Outpatients Treated With Cephalexin for Uncomplicated Cystitis: Is QID Dosing Necessary?

Urgent Message: Patients commonly seek unscheduled care for urinary tract infections (UTIs). Cephalexin is among …
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Hematoma Blocks for Pediatric Forearm Fractures

Systematic Rapid Review: Efficacy of Hematoma Blocks for Pediatric Forearm Fractures

Shomel Gauznabi, MBChB, FRNZCGP, FRACGP, FRNZCUC, MD; Ivan Koay, MBChB, MRCS, FRNZCUC, MD Urgent Message: …
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Clinical 

Postpartum Shortness of Breath

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Shortness of Breath

Urgent Message: Shortness of breath presentations for postpartum patients in urgent care should prompt consideration of venous thromboembolism or peripartum …
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Nerve Block for Headache

Blocking the Pain: Nerve Block in the Treatment of Headache in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: Although greater occipital nerve block has demonstrated positive effectiveness and few risks as a treatment for acute headache, …
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Herpes Testing in Urgent Care

Herpes Simplex Virus Infections: An Overview of Testing for the Urgent Care Clinician

Urgent Message: Polymerase chain reaction testing is recommended for patients with lesions that could represent herpes simplex virus infection. It …
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Postpartum Vaginal Bleeding and Discharge

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Vaginal Bleeding and Discharge

Urgent Message: Postpartum vaginal bleeding and discharge have a broad range of etiologies ranging from benign and self-limited to life-threatening …
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Practice Management 

Red Flags When Selling Your Urgent Care

Red Flags When Selling Your Urgent Care Practice

Urgent Message: Offers to buy urgent care centers typically follow due diligence processes, and the assets are valued within predictable …
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Mental Health Urgent Care

Mental Health Urgent Care: Bridging the Gap in Crisis Care

Urgent Message: Meridian Health’s Mental Health Urgent Care service addresses the gap between outpatient therapy and hospitalization. As a way …
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Private Equity Investment In Urgent Care

Private Equity Investment In Urgent Care, By Number Of Centers, 2025

Fifteen years after the initial private equity platform investments in NextCare, FastMed, and MD Now, the number of urgent care …
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2025 Urgent Care's Top 100

2025 Urgent Care’s Top 100 – By Number of Locations

The following table summarizes the 100 largest urgent care operators by number of locations as of April 1, 2025, based …
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CASE REPORTS

High-Pressure Paint Gun Finger Injury

High-Pressure Paint Gun Finger Injury: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While the initial clinical presentation of a high-pressure paint gun injury may not elicit …
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Neck Pain Spinal Epidural Abscess

When Neck Pain Arises From Spinal Epidural Abscess: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Though atraumatic neck pain is a common condition in the urgent care setting, spinal …
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Viral Gastroenteritis With Bowel Obstruction

Viral Gastroenteritis With Bowel Obstruction: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While acute gastroenteritis is typically self-limiting, inappropriate or excessive use of over-the-counter antimotility agents …
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Ruptured Baker Cyst

Ruptured Baker Cyst is an Uncommon Complication of a Common Diagnosis: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Rupture of a Baker cyst is a rare complication and may manifest with the …
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Dyspnea in Asthmatic Following Influenza

Dyspnea in an Asthmatic Patient Following an Influenza Infection: A Case Report

Urgent Message: While patients with asthma will frequently experience exacerbations following viral respiratory infections, the urgent …
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Download Past Issues

Paint Gun Injuries in Urgent Care

September 2025: Recognizing the Risk of Industrial Pain Gun Injuries

VIEW ISSUES ARCHIVE

JUCM CAREER CENTER

CLINICAL IMAGE CHALLENGES

Calcaneal Apophysitis

11-year-old With Heel Pain While Running

Differential Diagnosis Calcaneal apophysitis Achilles tendonitis Retrocalcaneal bursitis Calcaneal stress fracture Painful heel pad syndrome (contusion) Diagnosis The correct diagnosis …
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Substernal Chest Pain Resulting in Posterior Myocardial Infarction

80-Year-Old With Substernal Chest Pain

Differential Diagnosis Second degree atrioventricular (AV) block (Mobitz type I) heart block Second degree AV block (Mobitz type II) heart …
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pemphigus foliaceus Image

A 42-year-old Female with a Widespread Scaly Rash

Differential Diagnosis Erythrodermic psoriasis Pemphigus foliaceus Pemphigus vulgaris Subcorneal pustular dermatosis Dermatitis herpetiformis Bullous impetigo Diagnosis The correct diagnosis is …
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Fractures of the nasal bone and anterior nasal spine

42-Year-Old With Facial Injury

Differential Diagnosis Fractures of the nasal bone and anterior nasal spine Fracture of the orbit and zygoma Nasal soft tissue …
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Wellens Syndrome

56-Year-Old With Episodes of Chest Pain

Differential Diagnosis Brugada syndrome Left ventricular hypertrophy Wellens syndrome ST-Elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) Diagnosis The diagnosis in this case is …
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Revenue Cycle Management

Timely Filing

Timely Filing: What Every Practice Needs to Know

Nikki Benedict Timely filing is a critical concept in medical billing that directly impacts claim reimbursement. Despite its importance, the …
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Credentialing

Credentialing: The Gatekeeper of Access and Reimbursement

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC In the healthcare ecosystem, credentialing is more than a bureaucratic hurdle—it’s the linchpin …
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Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making

Navigating Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making: A Critical Guide for Urgent Care

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Urgent care operators face increasing challenges from payer reviews—a situation exacerbated by ongoing …
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Minimize Claim Denials in Urgent Care

Effective Strategies Minimize Claim Denials in Urgent Care

Urgent care centers serve a crucial function in providing prompt and accessible healthcare, but they encounter unique challenges in managing …
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E/M Coding Guidelines

Refresher: Guidelines for E/M Coding

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Hard to believe that the new evaluation and management (E/M) guidelines have been …
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DEVELOPING DATA

Pediatric Populations Represent 29% of Urgent Care Patients

Pediatric Populations Represent 29% of Urgent Care Patients

Over the 12-month period ending June 15, 2025, 29% of urgent care patients were children and young adults aged 21 …
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Lyme-Related Diagnoses in Urgent Care

Northeast Leads in Lyme-Related Diagnoses in Urgent Care

In the United States, 8 common species of ticks exist in different geographies that present risk of transmitting more than …
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Credit Card on File

Patient Credit Card on File Increases Payments by 20%

Just as hotels require a credit card to cover any “incidentals,” urgent care is increasingly pre-authorizing patient credit cards at …
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Lab Testing in Urgent Care

Diagnostic Lab Test Utilization in Urgent Care

Urgent care has long been defined for its model of “test and treat” for minor, non-chronic health conditions. Patients presenting …
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Urgent Care Operations

Does Urgent Care Require 7-Day Operations?

While patients and payers may expect urgent care to be available 7-days a week, approximately 20% of urgent care centers …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care

September 2025 Urgent Care Abstracts

Abstracts in Urgent Care – September 2025

Casting Rather Than Surgery for Medial Epicondyle Fractures in Children Take Home Point: In this randomized trial, treatment for pediatric …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care – July/August 2025

AI Performs Well in Virtual Urgent Care Visits Take Home Point: This study indicates that an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care June 2025

Abstracts in Urgent Care – June 2025

Can Doctors Predict Patient Outcome from a First Impression? Take Home Point: In this systematic review, the first impressions of …
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Abstracts in Urgent Care - May 2025

Abstracts in Urgent Care – May 2025

Which Topical Agent is the Best Choice for Epistaxis? Take Home Point: This study found that oxymetazoline was most effective …
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April Abstracts in Urgent Care

Abstracts in Urgent Care – April 2025

Evaluating Interventions for Improving Antibiotic Stewardship in Urgent Care Take Home Point: An antibiotic stewardship intervention was associated with reduced …
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Join Me and Contribute to JUCM

Join Me and Contribute to JUCM

It is an absolute honor and pleasure to serve as the new Editor In Chief of The Journal of Urgent …
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Urgent Care is HOLA

The Quality of Urgent Care Depends on our Commitment to HOLA Expertise

At least once a month, a friend or family member will text me—often for the first time in years—to share …
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UC Management of HDOD

Managing Health Data Obsessive Disorder Presentation in Urgent Care

In a prior editorial, I described the case of Thomas, a young man among the “worried-well,” who presented to urgent …
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Health Data Obsessive Disorder

‘Health Data Obsessive Disorder’—A Modern Epidemic

“Low blood sugar” was his chief complaint, but Thomas was in my urgent care (UC) mostly because he was feeling …
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As Little as Necessary

‘As Little as Necessary…’– A Mantra for Urgent Care

“Do as little as necessary, not as much as possible.” This is the mantra I recite throughout every urgent care …
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