Practice Management
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s warnings that the 2015–2016 might end up being late, and not just light, are coming to fruition from coast to coast—with deadly consequences for some. New data highlight the need for urgent care providers to continue pushing flu shots and to be prepared for more patients with flu-like symptoms. Current flu activity has been called “widespread” in 37 states, with physician visits for flu-like symptoms continuing to rise; …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and certain state health departments are looking into 14 new cases of Zika virus to determine if they could have been transmitted through sexual contact. In each case, a man who had traveled to an area where Zika has been confirmed developed symptoms within two weeks of his female sexual partner becoming ill. While the main health concern is that several of the women are pregnant and Zika …
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As public exchange coverage climbed in the third quarter of 2015, use of off-exchange private coverage dropped, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This see-saw effect seems to indicate that U.S. health carriers had more trouble holding on to enrollees in group plans and off-exchange individual policies than they did holding on to enrollees in public exchange plans. Critics of the Affordable Care Act exchange system have noted that …
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Old habits and the pleadings of sick patients continue to move physicians to prescribe antibiotics for patients who don’t actually need them, according to a new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Physicians. Both are urging physicians to employ antibiotics sparingly during cold and flu season. Antibiotics are prescribed at more than 100 million adult ambulatory care visits every year—including visits to urgent care—but only about half …
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If your urgent care center has not seen a boom in patients reporting with flu-like symptoms, don’t assume it’s going to be a slow influenza season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the annual peak is merely delayed, not lower than expected. In fact, most of the United States is still seeing a gradual climb in reported cases with this year’s peak not expected until at least January. New Jersey and South Carolina …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Get Smart About Antibiotics Week 2015 offers an opportunity for urgent care center management to get the word out about both their own services and the importance of responsible antibiotic use. With more than a third of urgent care centers in the US writing between 73 and 144 prescriptions for antibiotics each month, clinicians are all too familiar with the patient who shows up looking for a Z-Pak …
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Lee A. Resnick, MD Editor-in-Chief, JUCM. Fear and anxiety are high with the first cases of Ebola Virus Disease on American soil. While the CDC advice is useful, urgent cares need guidance that is relevant to our setting and reflects urgent care realities. Dr. Resnick, in collaboration with experts, has created sample policy and procedure that can be adopted at the clinic level to ensure safe and effective screening without unnecessary risk of exposure. Please …
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