Introduction Laboratory tests play a pivotal role in diagnosing various medical conditions, while also aiding in patient management, and monitoring treatment outcomes. While blood and urine tests are commonly employed, there is a growing range of non-invasive laboratory tests that provide valuable diagnostic insights without the need for blood or urine samples. In this article, …
Rob Beatty, MD FACEP Over the last decade, the landscape of healthcare has been shifting faster than a febrile toddler in triage. In the emergency department, outpatient clinics, ICUs, and even your neighbor’s Botox party, you’ll now encounter an increasingly diverse mix of providers: physicians (MDs and DOs), nurse practitioners (NPs), and physician associates (PAs, …
Lindee Abe, APRN A 58-year-old patient presents to the emergency department for several months of fatigue, night sweats, and decreased appetite. The patient is afebrile and has several bruises noted on their arms and legs. Laboratory testing is complete, and the patient’s white blood cell (WBC) count is 110,000/μL. How do you manage this patient? …
Rachel Beatty, APRN The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has recently released updated guidelines and management for complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs). These guidelines represent IDSA’s first dedicated cUTI guidance covering both men and women. This marks a major scope expansion from previous UTI-focused guidelines. Clinical decision making is now centered around clinical presentation …
Scott Biggs, PA-C Urgent Care Centers provide an alternative for good care! Imagine it’s Friday afternoon and you have a sore throat. It’s been bothering you for a few days now. As the morning went by today it has steadily gotten worse. You took some ibuprofen and had some hot soup for lunch, but it …
Lindee Abe, APRN Patient satisfaction is a term that is generally viewed negatively by many healthcare providers. It is brought up frequently during unit meetings and is also emphasized when looking at provider performance. Many providers also associate the term patient satisfaction with being forced into making medical decisions based on unwarranted patient demands (such …
