Urgent Care Case Study

Urgent care centers first opened in the United States in the early 1980s (http://www.chcf.org/~/media/MEDIA%20LIBRARY%20Files/PDF/PDF%20N/PDF%20NoAppointmentNecessaryUrgentCareCenters.pdf no appointment needed). The inspiration behind establishing urgent care centers originated when entrepreneurial physicians identified a gap in the industry. As there was a shortage of primary care physicians who lacked flexibility and extended office hours patients were forced to turn to emergency rooms for non-emergency treatment. As a result, emergency rooms became crowded with low risk patients that did not need immediate care. Consequently, overcrowding resulted in long wait times, unsatisfied patients, misdiagnosis, and overworked emergency rooms physicians. Additionally, at least two domains of quality of care, safety and timeliness, are compromised by emergency room crowding (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1553-2712.2008.00295.x/full). Ultimately, in order to remedy such overcrowding urgent care centers were established.

However, upon its conception the urgent care industry suffered a sudden decline. One of the reasons urgent care centers were unsuccessful was that many of the earlier urgent care centers were staffed by physicians who were not optimally trained to provide the type of care requested; quality issues

became well know (http://www.aapsus.org/wp-content/uploads/ucc80.pdf). Additionally, such centers faced opposition from local hospitals. As these types of centers grew, hospitals began to purchase them or providing better options in their emergency departments as they challenged the hospitals’ revenue and market share (http://www.aapsus.org/wp-content/uploads/ucc80.pdf). Instead of recognizing the advantages of such centers and the possibility of aligning with them, hospitals were more focused on the bottom line.
Nonetheless, urgent care centers have begun to emerge once again. Approximately two new urgent care centers open in the United States each week (Stern, David. “Status of Urgent Care in the U.S. – 2005,” Business Briefing: Emergency Medicine Review.) The reemergence of the centers is due in part to the incremental growth of the gap between primary care physicians and emergency rooms. Furthermore, many hospitals and health care systems have begun to incorporate urgent care centers into their repertoire of services. Therefore, the opposition that such centers faced in the past has begun to diminish. The strategic alliance of hospitals and urgent care facilities is beneficial for both parties. On the one hand, hospitals are able to prevent emergency room overcrowding and overextending their physicians. On the other hand, urgent care centers benefit from being associated with a well-known organization with a good reputation.
Ultimately, urgent care centers have been able to fill a gap in the health care industry between primary care physicians and emergency room visits.

Such facilities offer extended office hours, reduced waiting times, and accept walk-ins. The convenience of such centers provides patients with the flexibility they need as the physicians work around the patients availability. Therefore, urgent care facilities have replaced emergency rooms and primary physicians for patients that need immediate assistance. Consequently, changing the perception of the emergency room and deterring patients from going to the emergency room for non-life threatening

ailments.
Urgent care units have been able to take the emergency room framework and implement it on a smaller scale. Their services include but are not limited to the treatment of allergic reactions, colds and coughs, minor fractures and dislocations, and are able to perform x-rays, EKGs, and blood tests in house. Additionally, some urgent care centers, particularly those who are owned by hospitals or health care systems, are capable of admitting patients (if a patients care is beyond the scope of the urgent care center they can be admitted without having to wait in the ER).