Urgent Care Centers are Opening at Record Speeds

According to a recent article on CBS News, urgent care centers are growing in popularity at record speeds. Walk in urgent care clinics are praised for their convenience and immediate care, but they may be dethroning some patient?s primary care doctors.
A CBS correspondent reported that more and more urgent care centers are opening in suburban neighborhoods across the country. She likened the frequency of new urgent care openings to the prevalence of coffee shops in any given town. One local said, “they?re popping up everywhere.”
The article stated that one urgent care facility opened 18 locations in just 14 months around downstate New York. Patients rely on these “chains”, so to speak, to receive fast, consistent, and high quality care close to their homes. The urgent care model prides itself in being an emergency room alternative. Some go by the mantra “care with convenience”, illustrating the ease of local urgent care centers. Many urgent care centers boast a little to no wait time in contrast to what you might find in the ER.
Another selling point is the extended hours. Many facilities are open past a regular primary care office, and people are skipping their regular doctor and going right to an urgent care center at their convenience. The extended hours , some open until as late as 11pm, work well with a typical nine-to-five workday. They also operate on a walk in model, so no appointments are necessary.
The article goes on to quote a local urgent care doctor, Dr. Robert Korn. He attests to the popularity of these clinics. “Urgent care really fits the niche between the emergency department and your private doctor. We like to call it acute episodic care with a heart.”
Dr. Korn believes that local urgent care centers have a “hometown feel” and many people feel at ease visiting a clinic close to their home. That could be an explanation as to why so many are opening: more people can claim an urgent care facility as their own in lieu of a primary care doctor.
What do you think of the increasing trend in urgent care occupancy? Leave a comment below to tell us what you think!