Practice Management
Urgent message: Respiratory tract infections are a common complaint in the urgent care setting. Many patients present with the expectation of receiving antibiotics because they have usually done so. The rise of anti biotic-resistant infections requires that we take a close look at our prescribing habits and the need to reeducate patients on the harm of overusing antibiotics. Delayed prescribing offers a way to both satisfy patients and reduce the use of antibiotics in respiratory …
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Urgent message: Because bite and stings can be sustained in a variety of settings from many different animals and can transmit a wide variety of infectious agents, urgent care providers should have specific knowledge about treating wounds from mammals, nonmammals, and marine animals. ALEXANDER NATHANSON, MD Practitioners at urgent care centers often see patients who have sustained animal bites or stings. In addition to causing structural damage to tissues, bites and stings expose patients to …
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Urgent message: Although frequently overlooked, routine urinalysis results can serve as an important diagnostic indicator of underlying and potentially life-threatening systemic disease states. NATALIE SMITH, MS, PA-C Urinalysis is one of the most common diagnostic tests used in and urgent care medicine. Urinalysis results yield routine clinical information necessary for everyday diagnoses localized to the renal and urologic systems; findings such as pyuria indicative of cystitis or hematuria related to renal calculi are some commonplace …
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Urgent message: Shoulder pain is not always “just another musculoskeletal complaint.” It may be referred pain indicating life-threatening conditions. Many patients use urgent care centers as sources of primary care. Thus when we make an important diagnosis because of our methodical, stepwise approach to examination, we have the opportunity to be the providers who ultimately expedite diagnosis and care for these patients. MIZUHO SPANGLER, DO, and MICHAEL B. WEINSTOCK, MD Shoulder pain is the third …
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Urgent message: Upper abdominal pain is a common presentation in urgent care practice. Narrowing the differential diagnosis is sometimes difficult. Understanding the pathophysiology of each disease is the key to making the correct diagnosis and providing the proper treatment. TRACEY Q. DAVIDOFF, MD Part 1 of this series focused on disorders of the stomach—gastritis and peptic ulcer disease—on the left side of the upper abdomen. This article focuses on the right side and center of …
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Urgent message: Gastritis and peptic ulcer disease are a spectrum of diseases that can range from mild to serious; urgent care providers must be on the alert for these conditions. Early diagnosis and treatment, along with recommendations for follow-up care with appropriate specialists, can help prevent long-term sequelae. TRACEY Q. DAVIDOFF, MD Gastritis and peptic ulcer disease (PUD) represent a continuum along a path of inflammation of the gastric mucosa, from superficial irritation of the …
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