Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Intimate Partner Violence Screenings Gain Traction

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently posted an “in progress” recommendation statement for clinicians to screen for intimate partner violence and caregiver abuse in primary care settings. The proposed statement is open for public comment until November 25, 2024. The USPSTF suggests that clinicians screen pregnant and postpartum women as well as women of reproductive age for signs of intimate partner violence. However, it determined that there is insufficient evidence to recommend either …

Urgent Care Operators Can Help Reduce Elder Abuse—Here’s How

Urgent care providers have become more attuned to signs of potential child abuse, realizing that the parents responsible might be nervous taking a child they’ve injured to their “regular” pediatrician. Visiting an urgent care center where the family may not be known can provide a false sense of security that the true nature of a child’s injuries would go unrecognized. There’s tons of information telling providers what to do about those suspicions, as well. We …

Spike in Drug Abuse and Overdose Deaths Makes Workplace Drug Testing an Urgent Matter

With approximately 70% of the 14.8 million Americans who abuse drugs being employed, and the rate of deaths from overdose continuing to climb annually, workplace drug testing has become a key service for urgent care operators that offer occupational medicine services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims there’s been a 200% increase in the rate of overdose deaths attributed to opioid pain medications and heroin, and that nearly 2 million people in the …

Duty to Report

A few years ago, in a semi-rural town in Arizona, a woman brought her 4-year-old son to a physician assistant named James, who staffed a walk-in clinic. James knew the boy and his family very well. He was essentially their PCP and had treated the little boy in the past. In fact, he watched his grow from a toddler to a rambunctious little bundle of energy. On this particularly visit, the little boy had a …