About Urgent Care
Urgent care centers provide walk-in, extended hour access for acute illness and injury care that is either beyond the scope or availability of the typical primary care practice or retail clinic. Urgent care provides many health care services in a very cost effective and efficient way - 84% of patients wait less than 45 minutes to be seen (60% wait less than 30 minutes). There are over 8,000 urgent care centers in the US as of 2008.
UCAOA now provides specific criteria for defining what an urgent care center is. Visit Urgent Care Certification to learn more. Urgent care centers have a broader and deeper "scope of services" than retail clinics, but are not emergency departments. Urgent care ideally helps in reserving the nation's emergency room resources for more serious, life-threatening conditions.
Urgent care helps to improve both access to care and proper utilization of health system 
resources. It provides patients with medical attention for a large number of acute conditions that their primary physician may be unavailable or unable to treat, and when an emergency room visit is not warranted. There are many studies by the CDC and others that identify significant numbers of patients who went to an ER that could have been treated in urgent care centers. (UCAOA does recommend that all patients who believe they may have a life threatening condition seek care in an emergency facility.)
Urgent care providers fill the "gap" that can exist between the primary physician and an emergency room. The ability of an urgent care center to provide immediate care for acute, non-life threatening illness and injury is a critical component of any community’s health system. Cooperation between patients, primary physicians, emergency departments and urgent care providers can create a network of care options that puts the patient in the right hands at the right time for the right level of care.
If you are looking for an urgent care center in your area, click here to go to our By State Listing.
Urgent Care Industry Growth
There is an ongoing, growing demand for urgent care centers as primary care physicians and emergency rooms are continually struggling to meet the needs of an ever-expanding volume of patients seeking care. If you are interested in opening your own urgent care center, we encourage you to become a member of UCAOA, or attend a conference to learn more.
