Urgent care centers are built on access, efficiency, and rapid diagnostics. For decades, X-ray has been central to that model. Yet many operators are finding that maintaining consistent radiography is becoming increasingly difficult. A nationwide shortage of radiologic technologists has pushed wages upward and made staffing unpredictable. [1] Imaging volumes are often too low to justify the cost of full-time personnel. Reimbursement structures rarely offset the true expense of equipment, inspections, overreads, and service contracts. As a result, X-ray, once a dependable service line, is now one of the most operationally fragile components of urgent care.

It is important to recognize that there is still a strong role for X-ray in centers with consistently high imaging volume or significant orthopedic demand. In those environments, radiography remains essential. The challenge is that radiography alone cannot meet the operational and workforce pressures facing urgent care today. When staffing is unreliable, imaging availability becomes inconsistent, and that inconsistency affects patient flow, provider confidence, and payor relationships.

A 42-year-old female presents to her primary care clinic with intermittent, crampy abdominal pain for four months. The pain typically follows fatty meals, occasionally radiates to her right shoulder, and can last for several hours. She denies fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. Vital signs are normal. On exam, she has mild tenderness to palpation in the right upper quadrant without rebound or guarding. There is no jaundice, and laboratory studies, including AST and ALT, are within normal limits.

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a valuable tool for evaluating bladder-related complaints such as hematuria, urinary retention, and flank pain. In this episode, a bedside scan performed to rule out retention and renal colic instead uncovered an unexpected bladder mass, prompting expedited CT imaging and follow-up. After this podcast, you will understand how POCUS can identify unexpected findings, accelerate diagnostic workup, and guide timely referral. If you are a primary care or urgent care provider and are not using POCUS, now is the time to start! It’s a cost-effective tool that improves clinical decision-making, enhances patient experience, and increases efficiency while adding revenue to the practice.

For clinicians in urgent care, abdominal pain in reproductive-age patients presents a familiar challenge. Add a positive pregnancy test, and the stakes increase significantly, particularly when diagnostic tools are limited onsite.

In a recent case published in the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM), Hello Sono founder Dr. Tatiana Havryliuk demonstrates how transabdominal point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can be used effectively to confirm an intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) and help avoid unnecessary emergency department transfers.

Discover how point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) transforms the evaluation of pleuritic chest pain and dyspnea. Learn how to detect pneumothorax, identify key lung signs like the lung point, and see why POCUS outperforms X-ray—especially in rural and resource-limited settings.

A 27-year-old male presented to urgent care with a one-week history of intermittent right testicular pain associated with right low back, flank, and right lower quadrant discomfort. He reported a sensation of incomplete bladder emptying after urination and had noted one day of gross hematuria the day prior. He denied fever, dysuria, trauma, or constitutional symptoms. His past medical history was unremarkable.