Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Join Virtual Discussions About ‘Bounceback!’ Cases

One hour of free CME will be offered in the forthcoming Bouncebacks! Book Club virtual discussions. The book series Bouncebacks!—created by The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine’s Senior Clinical Editor Michael Weinstock, MD, and colleagues—takes a fresh approach to the practice of medicine by focusing on “bounce-back” visits with a collection of case reports. The Bouncebacks! series presents the actual documentation of an emergency encounter, analyzes it from a risk-management and patient-safety perspective, then reveals …

A Love Letter

Dear Urgent Care, I remember the day we first met. It was a long-ago Christmas Eve early in the morning, and I had awakened with a terribly sore throat. I was despondent, knowing no one would be willing to take care of me on the holiday, which meant it wouldn’t be a very merry one for me. Then, there you were. In a brick building on a well-traveled highway, your lights were on and your …

Broader Issues Surround ‘Work Note Seeking’

Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, FCUCM, FACEP Who among us has worked a single urgent care (UC) shift without at least one patient making a humble request for a sick note to take back to work? “Can I have a work note?” It’s a simple ask. In fact, apart from medication refills, work note visits rank among the most welcomed presentations for many overworked clinicians, offering a much-needed mental reprieve and a chance to finally catch up …

75 Year Old With Rib Pain

A 75-year-old woman presents to urgent care following a fall in her home that day. An adult daughter explains that her mother has pain on her left side around her ribs. View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the following page.

Real-World Validation of Rapid PCR Strep Testing in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: The diagnosis of bacterial pharyngitis is often difficult. Rapid polymerase chain reaction testing has potential to improve diagnostic certainty. Despite high accuracy rates, many urgent care providers continue to seek confirmation by throat culture. Justin Bowles, MD, Supreet Ghumman, MS4 Citation: Bowles J, Ghumman S. Real world validation of rapid PCR strep testing in urgent care. J Urgent Care Med. 2023;18(2):15-21 Key Words: bacterial pharyngitis; PCR testing Abstract Introduction: Point-of-care polymerase chain reaction …

66-Year-Old With Weakness and Dyspnea

A 66-year-old male presents in the urgent care, saying “it’s hard to breathe.” He’s had weakness and dyspnea for one day. The patient has a medical history of diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure. The patient has a pacemaker. An ECG is obtained. View the ECG captured above and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page

Leaders Must Prioritize Goals for the Next Phase in Urgent Care

Urgent care medicine is still trying to find its place in the vast medical care landscape. At the same time, the whole “house of medicine” is going through yet another challenging time. Our journals and the media are reporting that medical providers are feeling demoralized and uncertain of the future. In some clinics, the medical staff shows up focused only on surviving the day. Considering these organizational issues, it can often feel overwhelming when leaders …

Abstracts in Urgent Care November 2023

What Should We Do with the Nail? Nailbed Repair in Children Take Home Point: After nail bed repair, discarding the fingernail was associated with similar rates of infection and similar cosmetic outcomes compared to replacement of the fingernail. Citation: Jain A, Grieg A, Jones A, et al. Effectiveness of nail bed repair in children with or without replacing the fingernail: NINJA multicentre randomized clinical trial. BJS, 2023, 110, 432–438 https://doi.org/10.1093/bjs/znad031 Relevance: Procedures for nail bed …

What Urgent Care Operators Need to Know About Pay Transparency

Urgent Message: As a rising percentage of jurisdictions require disclosure of salary ranges to current and/or prospective employees, urgent care leaders must achieve compliance with pay transparency laws. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc California, New York, Washington, and Rhode Island are among the latest states to add salary range transparency laws to their books.[1] As of this writing, eight states have enacted such laws, with at least 15 more considering legislation on this topic, including Illinois, …

Detection and Management of Urinary Calculi in the Urgent Care Setting

Andrew Alaya MD MSc Urgent Message: Abdominal pain is a common urgent care complaint that may result from a variety of benign to life-threatening etiologies, which can pose diagnostic and therapeutic difficulty for the clinician. Ureteral calculi are able to be diagnosed and managed in the urgent care setting. Citation: Alaya A. Detection and Management of Urinary Calculi in the Urgent Care Setting. J Urgent Care Med. 2023;18(2); 31-38 Introduction/Epidemiology Formation of calculi in the …