The number of U.S. urgent care centers rose 6%
to 9,272 in the U.S. as of June of this year compared to 8,774 in 2018,
according to the latest tally by the Urgent Care Association, which released a
new report on the industry’s rapid growth.
Unlike the early proliferation of urgent care
centers that were largely opened by physicians, doctor practices and medical
groups, the new wave is driven by well-capitalized health systems and
investor-owned companies like UnitedHealth Group’s Optum health services unit
and big hospital corporations, the report indicates.
Urgent care is similar to retail health
clinics operated by Walgreens, CVS and Walmart in that they are open daily,
evenings and on weekends to treat routine health needs. But urgent care centers
also generally offer more in the form of a board-certified physician plus
additional services such as X-rays for potential broken bones.
“The urgent care industry’s ownership mix has
shifted significantly since inception,” the urgent care group’s report said.
“Urgent care centers emerged largely as a physician or physician group
strategy.”
But physician ownership that once accounted
for 54% of the U.S. market in 2008 has now dropped to 40% or less. By
comparison, hospital ownership had jumped to 37% in 2014 compared to just shy
of 25% in 2008.
“Healthcare systems such as Dignity Health,
HCA, Aurora Health, Intermountain Health and Carolinas Healthcare have all made
significant commitments to urgent care in their communities and beyond,” the
Urgent Care Center report said. “Urgent care aligns with many healthcare
systems’ objectives of providing cost effective, accessible care, particularly
when integrated with other ancillary, specialty and primary care strategies.”
Meanwhile, many urgent care developers and
health systems have taken on “private equity partners to fuel ongoing growth
and the payer community has entered the market with ownership in the urgent
care sector,” the report said. The biggest payer being UnitedHealth Group, the
nation’s largest health insurer and its Optum medical care services unit, which
bought MedExpress in 2015 and continues to open urgent care centers across the
country.
Optum said its MedExpress urgent care center
growth us up 70% to more than 250 centers over the last five years, a company
spokesman confirmed. In Optum’s case, the urgent care centers are being linked
with the company’s other medical care provider operations into what executives
hope will be a more seamless experience for patients.
Andrew Witty, the president of UnitedHealth Group and
CEO of Optum said last week at the 2019 Forbes Healthcare Summit that
the hundreds of clinics, surgery centers and urgent care assets the company has
acquired will increasingly be “wired together” in markets across the U.S. The
company has identified 10 markets where that process is underway including
Denver, Seattle, Southern California, Las Vegas, Dallas and the New York and
New Jersey metropolitan market.
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