There are approximately 110 million emergency room visits every year. While a substantial percentage of these visits may be for life-threatening situations, others could be treated at an urgent care clinic. Recent data shows that emergency room visits have actually increased more than 22% within the past ten years. This is due, in part, to how Americans expect and rely on 24-hour access to medical services.
According to a 2009 RAND Corp. study, approximately $4.4 billion in health care costs could be saved by people visiting urgent care clinics. This is due to their finding that 14% to 27% of the issues that lead people to go the emergency room could have been evaluated and treated at an urgent care center. Since some of these facilities also have 24 hour walk in clinics, they are a welcome alternative to the traditional hospital emergency room.
The Urgent Care Association of America reports that in 2011, the average urgent care center saw 342 patients on a weekly basis. Furthermore, these urgent care centers also had an increase of 28 new patients per month. This demonstrates that more people are becoming aware of the effective care that is being provided by urgent care facilities.
About half of the urgent care centers are owned by a physician or group of physicians. When visiting 60% of these facilities, patients usually only need to wait for up to 15 minutes to see a physician or mid-level provider, such as a physician’s assistant. There is also a physician on-site at all times with 65% of urgent care facilities.
The American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine indicates that on average, physicians will see 4.5 patients per hour. This will, of course, depend on whether or not each patient is presenting with a serious health problem. In some instances, these individuals may need to be admitted to the hospital.
It’s also important to note that the best urgent care also costs less than a traditional hospital emergency room visit. More specifically, when someone is treated at a hospital emergency room for an issue such as the flu, this can cost an average of $2,039.00. When someone visits an urgent care clinic for the same issue, the costs would average $226.00.
Since the best urgent care facilities can treat a wide range of illnesses and injuries as well as provide advanced diagnostic and laboratory services, it makes sense for people to visit these medical centers. This is even more the case with hybrid medical centers. These centers have emergency departments as well as the best urgent care clinics within the same building. As a result, patients do not have to make a choice as to which would be better because they will have access to both under the same roof.