Data from the 2014 Urgent Care Chart Survey of 1,778,075 blinded visits by patients to more than 800 different urgent care clinics, conducted by the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, reveal that the top 3 procedures performed at U.S. urgent care centers in 2014 were as follows, in descending order: • Medication administration (vaccine, IV, steroid injection, anesthesia)—59.7 million procedures (39.8% of visits) • Rapid diagnostic tests and cultures—44 million procedures (29.4% of visits) • …
Read MoreTop Classes of Prescriptions Written at U.S. Urgent Care Centers in 2014
Data from the 2014 Urgent Care Chart Survey of 1,778,075 blinded patient visits to more than 800 different urgent care clinics, conducted by the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, show that for almost half of visits (48.6%) to U.S. urgent care centers, the prescriptions written by health-care providers are for oral antibiotics. The next 4 classes of prescriptions written are as follows, in descending order by percentage of visits: corticosteroids (13.7%), narcotic analgesics (9.9%), cough …
Read MoreTop Types of Diagnosis Codes at U.S. Urgent Care Centers in 2014
Data from the 2014 Urgent Care Chart Survey of 1,778,075 blinded patient visits to more than 800 different urgent care clinics, conducted by the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, show that the top types of diagnosis codes for visits included respiratory (52.9%), wound/trauma/fracture (34.9%), ear (9.2%), dermatologic (7.5%), and genitourinary (7.0%). The survey’s methodology and data abstraction forms were initially designed in 2008 by researcher Robin M. Weinick, PhD, then an assistant professor at Harvard …
Read MorePresenting Conditions Documented in Patient Charts at U.S. Urgent Care Centers in 2014
Data from the 2014 Urgent Care Chart Survey of 1,778,075 blinded patient visits to more than 800 different urgent care clinics, conducted by the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, show that the top 3 conditions that patients reported at presentation were cough (10.9% of visits), sore throat (10.4% of visits), and pain of some kind (7.7% of visits). The survey’s methodology and data abstraction forms were initially designed in 2008 by researcher Robin M. Weinick, …
Read MorePatient Age Breakout for the U.S. Urgent Care Market in 2014
Data from the 2014 Urgent Care Chart Survey of 1,778,075 blinded patient visits to more than 800 different urgent care clinics, conducted by the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, show that the 2 largest age groups of patients using urgent care centers were 21 to 30 years (17.1%) and 31 to 40 years (15.9%); the smallest age group was 51 to 60 years (11.9%). The survey’s methodology and data abstraction forms were initially designed in …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: March, 2015
Data from the IBISWorld Industry Report Urgent Care Centers in the US, March 2014 show that the urgent care market can be segmented by the source of payment for services. On the basis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, IBISWorld finds that the main sources of revenue for urgent care are private insurance, Medicare, patients (out-of-pocket payments), and Medicaid. Private insurance accounted for about 54.8% of industry revenue in 2014. Many private insurance companies …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: February, 2015
Developing Data: January, 2015
Data from the Bureau of Health Professionals show that lack of access to primary care in the United States is driving the heightened demand for urgent care utilization. As of 2013, approximately 60 million individuals in the United States lacked access to primary care, an increase from 56 million in 2007. The lack of access is driven by a number of factors, including inconvenient hours, stringent scheduling requirements, and overcapacity at primary care physician offices. …
Read MoreDeveloping Data: December, 2014
Data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Aetna show that as the cost of health care treatment continues to rise, urgent care offers a compelling low-cost alternative for delivering care outside the hospital. By transitioning unnecessary emergency department visits to urgent care, $18 billion in savings is projected to be possible. In this issue: Low-Cost Setting as a Driver of Urgent Care Industry Growth
Read MoreDeveloping Data: November, 2014
These data from the 2012 Urgent Care Industry Benchmarking Study are based on a sample of 1,732 urgent care centers; 95.2% of the respondents were UCA members. Among other criteria, the study was limited to centers that have a licensed provider onsite at all times; have two or more exam rooms; typically are open 7 days/week, 4 hours/day, at least 3,000 hours/year; and treat patients of all ages (unless specifically a pediatric urgent care). In …
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