Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Pandemic Fluctuations: A Historic Drop, Then a Meteoric Rise in Patients Visits Per Day

Just to confirm, the COVID-19 pandemic has generally not been kind to the urgent care industry. Locations that could get their hands on testing supplies at the outset were inundated with patients clamoring to know if they had the virus. The many facilities that got shut out of test distribution chains suffered greatly, though—as did the industry as a whole. Now, even as case loads continue to climb again in many states, the public’s panic …

A 60-year old Male with Dyspnea and Hypoxemia at the Start of a Global Pandemic

Urgent message: The identification and global impact of the novel coronavirus has significantly challenged medical decision-making. Urgent care providers now consider the inclusion of the SARS-CoV-2-causing illness in their differential diagnosis when evaluating patients with signs and symptoms of an acute respiratory infection. Louis Costanzo, MD, MBA Introduction As of March 2021, there have been more than 28.6 million documented cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with the majority of cases those ages 18 …

Outpatient Management of COVID-19 in the Urgent Care Clinic: Administering Monoclonal Antibodies

Urgent message: The approved use of monoclonal antibodies to treat patients who have COVID-19 may signal a shift from inpatient to outpatient care of infected individuals who do not require hospitalization. Urgent care facilities may be ideally suited to serve as treatment centers and to become destinations of choice for such patients. Lindsey Fish, MD Now that COVID-19 has been with us for over a year, we are in a much different position regarding the …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – April 2021

Acetaminophen vs Ibuprofen in Children Optimizing Podcasts for Learning Dosing Ketorolac IV in Renal Colic Torus Distal Radius Fractures Avulsion Fractures of the Fifth Metatarsal Base COVID-19 and ECGs Long-Term Sequelae of COVID-19 COVID-19, Zinc, and Vitamin C Use of Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen for Fever and Pain in Young Children Take-home point: Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are both safe for short-term treatment of pain and fever in children under 2 years of age. Ibuprofen produces more …

As Travel Opens Up, Opportunities to Offer COVID-19 Tests Could Be Lucrative

Urgent care has had it tough during the pandemic, but the travel industry has faced unprecedented challenges as Americans hunkered down to avoid exposure to the COVID-19 virus. To this day, individuals in certain professions (teachers, for example) are barred from returning to work until they’ve quarantined after visiting certain states. Others, however, are facing slightly loosened restrictions, such as being able to travel as long as they can provide a negative test result. American …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2021

‘Seat Belt’ Signs Post MVA Pain Control in Corneal Abrasions Analgesia with Reduction of Shoulder Dislocation Can Early PT Help with Sciatica? How Vaping Compromises Breathing COVID-19 in the Country Pandemic Depression—A Real Thing? Avijit Barai, MBBS, MRCS, MSc (Critical Care), PgCertCPU, FRNZCUC Workup for “Seat Belt” Sign in Trauma Patients Take-home point: The presence of a “seat belt” sign has a high association with intraabdominal organ injury. Citation: Shreffler J, Smiley A, Schultz M, et …

New Data Show Fear Is a Good Motivator in Patient Decision Making

Refusal by many to believe that COVID-19 is as transmissible or dangerous as it is (and, subsequently, refusal to follow guidelines on reducing risk for transmission) has been one factor in the nearly unchecked spread of the virus for much of the past year. Public education campaigns fell on deaf ears, too often. Now, however, it appears that the national burden became so great that even naysayers took heed and started changing their ways. According …

Advise Patients: A Worldwide Respiratory Pandemic is a Bad Time to Start Smoking Again

Americans have been smoking less and less for years—that is, until social distancing pushed many to take up or increase the habit, according to data from Altria Group Inc., which owns the Marlboro cigarette brand. Sales were flat in 2020 after falling annually 5.5% the previous year, a slide that started years earlier thanks in part to steep taxes on cigarettes and the growing popularity of vaping devices, including e-cigarettes. This reversal comes at a …

The Good News: Urgent Care Visits Are Climbing in the New Year

As we’ve noted in recent weeks, urgent care had a tough time of it through much of 2020, from challenges in receiving COVID-19 testing supplies to patients who were unnecessarily afraid to visit their local urgent care center. Now, though, in spite of again being overlooked as a potentially valuable partner in vaccinating the country against the virus, visits to urgent care centers are actually up 67% vs the previous 3-year average according to data …

Questions Arise on Why Pharmacies Are Again Taking Center Stage with COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic first started taking hold, it seemed like pharmacies in the United States could get all the testing supplies they needed while urgent care centers were relegated to the sidelines. Now that several viable vaccines are available, that balance has yet to shift in any substantive way. Sure, hospitals and local and regional public health agencies are also conducting immunization programs but urgent care is again getting short shrift—but this time others …