UCA White Paper Reveals Trends in Urgent Care

A newly published report from the Urgent Care Association reveals just how far the industry has come from its “doc in a box” days, to the point that it’s now a key element of the healthcare continuum. In fact, urgent care centers account for 18.2% of all primary care visits and 9.7% of outpatients visits overall in the U.S. The Essential Role of the Urgent Care Center in Population Health also offers new data indicating the industry will continue to innovate for the foreseeable future. UCA head Laurel Stoimenoff, PT, CHC points to urgent care’s “customer-centric, on-demand delivery model” as being essential to its appeal to healthcare consumers. Its tendency toward embracing new technologies while diversifying services and improving access to care supports the notion that future growth is likely, she says. Overall, the white paper lays out four key trends that are stimulating growth in 2018: more on-demand options, a cost-effective delivery models, expansion into specialty services and focus on high-value. The white paper is available for download at no charge at the UCA website.