In each issue on this page, we report on research from or relevant to the emerging urgent care marketplace. This month, we offer another look at data from the recent annual survey conducted by UCA. (In early 2008, UCA revamped its annual survey in conjunction with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, with the goal of assuming that the UCA Benchmarking Committee’s efforts produced a scientifically valid report.)
In this issue: What time do U.S. urgent care centers tend to open for business each day?
*Approximately 15% of responding centers reported being closed on Sundays.
Compared with past UCA surveys, these data show that more centers are opening their doors before 9 a.m. on weekends (presumably before most other physician offices are open) than in years past, but what weekday opening times are relatively stable.
Where does your facility fall along this spectrum? And how does that compare with your local competitors – are they taking in patients before your lights come on?
Acknowledgement: Data submitted by Robin M. Weinick, PhD, at the time of the survey assistant professor, Harvard Medical School and senior scientist, Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Weinick is also a member of the JUCM Advisory Board. Financial support for this study was provided by UCA.
If you are aware of new data that you’ve found useful in your practice, let us know via e-mail to [email protected]. We’ll share your discovery with your colleagues in an upcoming issue of JUCM.