The College of Urgent Care Medicine
Urgent Updates are highlights of guidelines from other groups, reviewed by Urgent Care physicians. These highlights represent the actual intent of these articles and how they relate to the practice of Urgent Care medicine.
Children Face Nearly 90-Day Wait for Pediatric Dermatology Appointments Across the US Children in the U.S. face median waits of nearly 90 days to see pediatric dermatologists, even for common conditions like eczema, acne, and hemangiomas. Limited workforce and uneven geographic distribution contribute to these long delays. Prolonged wait times...
>> Read MoreNational Estimates of Pediatric Sepsis in US Hospitals Using Clinical Data This found that pediatric sepsis represents a significant burden in U.S. hospitals, affecting a meaningful proportion of pediatric admissions and contributing to substantial morbidity, mortality, and healthcare utilization. Using clinical indicators such as infection and organ dysfunction allowed researchers...
>> Read MoreIncidence of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest on a Post-holiday Weekday A nationwide South Korean cohort study of 203,471 adult out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) cases found that the first weekday after a holiday had a 9% higher incidence of OHCA compared with other weekdays. The increased risk was particularly notable after ≥2...
>> Read MoreDiagnosing Urinary Tract Infection in Young Febrile Children in the Emergency Department This study externally validated UTICalc version 3.0, a race‑neutral clinical prediction tool to estimate the probability of urinary tract infection (UTI) in febrile children 2–24 months old presenting to the emergency department. At a 5% UTI risk threshold, the combined...
>> Read MoreParental Misidentification and Potential Mismanagement of Dermatophytosis: Insights from a Nationwide Survey of Mothers, United States, 2025 This study surveyed U.S. mothers of children under 18 to evaluate how well they recognize and manage dermatophytosis (ringworm), a common fungal skin infection. Nearly half correctly identified ringworm, but many misidentified other...
>> Read MoreMeasles update: US tallies 982 cases The CDC reports a significant rise in confirmed measles cases in the U.S., with 982 cases so far in 2026 across 26 jurisdictions and 2,281 cases in 2025, including numerous outbreaks, most of which are outbreak-associated. Vaccination coverage among U.S. kindergarteners has fallen below...
>> Read MoreAnn Arbor Guide to Triaging Adults with Suspected Urinary Tract Infection for In-Person and Telehealth Settings A multidisciplinary expert panel used the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method to develop clinical algorithms guiding for adults with suspected urinary tract infection (UTI) presenting by phone, telehealth, or in‑person. The resulting triage recommendations stratify patients...
>> Read MoreCorticosteroids in Acute Asthma Care in Children: What, Why, And When The editorial reviews evidence supporting early use of corticosteroids in acute asthma exacerbations in children, emphasizing that prompt systemic corticosteroids (usually oral) within the first hour of care—often alongside inhaled corticosteroids—significantly reduce hospital admissions, symptom duration, and relapse risk....
>> Read MoreECDC Issues Guidance on Doxycycline for STI Prevention Clinical data show doxy-PEP can significantly lower chlamydia and syphilis incidence in high-risk groups when taken within 24–72 hours after condomless sex, but it is unlikely to reduce gonorrhea where tetracycline resistance is common. Due to concerns about accelerating antimicrobial resistance in...
>> Read MoreCervical Artery Dissection Diagnosed Following Chiropractic Cervical Manipulation: A STOP-CAD Subanalysis About 1 in 20 cases of cervical artery dissection (CeAD) in the registry reported antecedent manipulation; these manipulation-associated cases occurred more often in younger patients and females, were more often vertebral dissections, and were linked with neck pain compared...
>> Read MoreStudy: 87% of Primary Care Providers Say Drug Shortages Lower Quality of Care A new survey found that about 87% believe ongoing drug shortages negatively affect the quality of patient care, forcing clinicians to alter their drug of choice or delay prescribing when preferred medications aren’t available. Nearly 9 in...
>> Read MorePerformance of The Asthma Clinical Score and The Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure in Obese Children Presenting to The Emergency Department for Asthma Exacerbations The study compared the Asthma Clinical Score (ACS) and PRAM for assessing asthma severity in children, including those with obesity. ACS was more reliable and better predicted...
>> Read MoreWhere Are We in The Battle Against Antibiotic-Resistant Infections? The article highlights that antibiotic resistance has increased globally, with frontline antibiotics losing effectiveness and one in six bacterial infections now resistant to all known treatments, according to a recent WHO report. In the U.S., antimicrobial-resistant infections cause millions of illnesses...
>> Read MoreEffectiveness of 2024–2025 COVID-19 Vaccines in Children in the United States — VISION, August 29, 2024–September 2, 2025 The CDC analyzed data from the Virtual SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, and Other respiratory viruses Network (VISION) Network to estimate effectiveness of the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines in preventing COVID-19–associated emergency department or Urgent Care...
>> Read MoreCanadian Guideline on HIV pre- and Postexposure Prophylaxis: 2025 Update The 2025 Canadian guideline on HIV pre- and postexposure prophylaxis updates recommendations for PrEP and PEP use in adolescents and adults. It broadens PrEP eligibility to include anyone who self-identifies as needing protection, even without disclosing specific risk factors. The...
>> Read MoreTrimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole and Acute Respiratory Failure in Adolescents and Young Adults In a cohort of healthy adolescents and young adults who started treatment with Trimethoprim‑Sulfamethoxazole (TMP–SMX), the 30-day risk of a hospital visit for respiratory failure was higher than among those who started with amoxicillin or cephalosporins. This elevated risk supports...
>> Read MoreTraining Our Teams to Meet the Needs of Our Patients The author argues that many Urgent-Care centers default to reducing capabilities (“we can’t do that test,” “we can’t have our MA do this”) rather than investing in training so the team can deliver higher-quality care. The author emphasizes that rather...
>> Read MoreInhaler-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the USA Serial Cross-Sectional Analysis From 2014 to 2024 in the U.S., inhaler usage for asthma and COPD accounted for approximately 24.9 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions, with 98 % of those emissions coming from metered-dose inhalers. The annual emission rate rose by...
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