Lung ultrasound outperforms traditional chest X-rays in accuracy, speed, and cost for urgent and primary care settings, providing superior sensitivity for detecting pneumonia, pneumothorax, and pulmonary edema without radiation. As a practical alternative to radiography-related operational challenges, POCUS offers real-time bedside diagnostic capabilities.

Cardiac ultrasound is a point-of-care imaging technique used to rapidly assess cardiac function and hemodynamic status at the bedside. It helps identify findings such as pericardial effusion, right heart strain, reduced ejection fraction, cardiac tamponade, and fluid responsiveness, allowing clinicians to make faster diagnostic and treatment decisions in emergency and acute care settings.

A 24-year-old man presents to urgent care with first-time renal colic. He is stable, tolerating oral intake, and has no signs of infection. Does he need a CT scan or emergency department referral?

In this Southern Medical Association case article, we explore how renal point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) identified mild hydronephrosis at the bedside, allowing safe outpatient management without CT imaging or ED transfer. The article reviews key renal ultrasound findings, common pitfalls, evidence supporting a POCUS-first approach, and the broader impact on radiation exposure, healthcare utilization, and cost.

Learn how POCUS can help clinicians rapidly risk stratify patients with suspected renal colic while improving patient-centered care.

Lung ultrasound is a point-of-care imaging technique used to assess respiratory conditions at the bedside. It helps identify findings such as pneumonia, pulmonary edema, pleural effusion, and pneumothorax with greater sensitivity than chest X-ray.

A 51-year-old male presented to urgent care after falling while spring skiing. He reported catching an edge, pitching forward, and landing forcefully onto his left anterior chest. He immediately experienced localized pain, worsened by deep inspiration. He denied shortness of breath, syncope, and head or neck injury.

Vital signs were normal. Examination demonstrated focal tenderness over the left anterior chest wall at the level of the fourth rib without visible ecchymosis, crepitus, or deformity. Lung sounds were clear and equal bilaterally.

A chest X-ray showed no acute bony abnormality and no pneumothorax. Due to persistent focal pain, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) was performed over the area of maximal tenderness.

A 41-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with a sudden onset of dyspnea and pleuritic chest pain for two hours. She appears mildly anxious and diaphoretic. She denies fever, cough, trauma, or recent illness. She takes oral contraceptives and has no significant past medical history.

Vital signs reveal HR 113 bpm, RR 24, O₂ saturation 94% on room air, and BP 110/74 mmHg.

Her lung exam is clear. Cardiac exam reveals tachycardia without murmurs. 

Projected POCUS Utilization in Urgent Care: What 10,000 Patient Visits Reveal

New urgent care research shows nearly 1 in 10 adult visits could be candidates for point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), supporting utilization estimates and modeling the financial viability of implementing ultrasound in UC.

A 24-year-old man presents to a primary care clinic with seven days of respiratory symptoms. He initially developed cough, fever, sore throat, and fatigue. His symptoms improved on days 4 and 5, but then worsened in the past 48 hours with recurrent fever and productive green sputum.

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.