Antibiotic resistance is a serious public health concern that affects patient care, safety, and healthcare costs. The College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM), the Urgent Care Association (UCA), and the Urgent Care Foundation (UCF) are proud to represent the thousands of urgent care centers and professionals who treat more than 160 million patients each year.

The majority of patients in urgent care present with acute, infectious disease-related symptoms, such as cough, sore throat, and fever – a significantly higher proportion than those seen in traditional office-based primary care and internal medicine clinics.

As such, CUCM, UCF and UCA recognize the important role urgent care clinicians can

– and should — play in the responsible use and preservation of antibiotics while focusing on the health of patients, and are committed to ensuring urgent care medicine supports the White House National Strategy for Combatting Antibiotic­ Resistant Bacteria:

“The United States will work domestically and internationally to prevent, detect, and control illness and death related to infections caused by antibiotic- resistant bacteria by implementing measures to mitigate the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance and ensuring the continued availability of therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial infections.”

Methods will include training and education of both clinical and non-clinical staff, clinical decision support tools, antibiotic use data collection, and evidence-based antibiotic stewardship practices and research.

Notice and Disclaimer

This position statement is provided as a resource to consumers, legislators and clinical and practice management healthcare professionals. UCA does not endorse or sponsor any programs or

organizations referenced in this position statement and in no event shall UCA be held liable for any damages resulting from use of this information even if UCA has been informed of the possibility of such liability.