Urgent Care has become an essential component of healthcare access in the United States and beyond. Often referred to as the “front door to healthcare,” Urgent Care provides quick, convenient and quality care with an average of 185 million visits[i] annually, to patients where and when they need it. Preserving and improving access to Urgent Care should be a priority for policymakers and payers as it provides cost-effective access and keeps non-emergencies out of the emergency department.
With over 15,000[i] centers across the U.S., spanning every state and the District of Columbia, Urgent Care has become a staple in most communities. Gen Z and Millennials are the generations most frequently using Urgent Care, but 17.1% of visits are from Gen X and 14.1% are from Baby Boomers.[ii]
Urgent Care centers provide extended hours as compared to primary care offices, with 66% of centers open 7 days a week, and 16% of centers open past 5 p.m. 7 days a week.[iii]
[i] Site Data Services, August 2026
[ii]https://www.jucm.com/which-generation-uses-urgent-care-the-most/
[iii] Site Data Services, July 2026
The primary care workforce gap has resulted in decreased access to primary care. It can take weeks, if not months, to receive a primary care appointment. Addressing this shortage is one of the key initiatives of the American Academy of Family Physicians.[i]
Due to this shortage, many patients are turning to Urgent Care for their non-emergent health needs that cannot wait weeks, or months, to address with their primary care clinician.
[i]https://www.aafp.org/advocacy/federal/physician-workforce
It is estimated that Urgent Care centers reduce the total number of ED visits by over 26 million annually[i], which not only reduces the burden on emergency rooms but also saves patients and the healthcare ecosystem valuable time and money. This data emphasizes the importance of Urgent Care centers having the capacity to keep non-emergent patients out of the emergency room and shines a light on Urgent Care as an essential part of the healthcare ecosystem, especially for those who need immediate medical attention but don’t require emergency services.
Principal findings in a National Library of Medicine study found that by having an Urgent Care center in the area, the total number of emergency department visits in that zip code decreased by 17.2 percent.[ii] In addition, Urgent Care centers reduced the total number of uninsured and Medicaid visits to the emergency department by over 20 percent. One review found that 32.1% of Emergency Department visits are non-emergencies[iii], and according to the CDC, only 17.8 million ED visits result in hospital admission each year.[iv]
[i] Calculation based off reduction in ED visits and annual ED visits, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/emergency-department.htm
[ii] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33559261/
[iii] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20825838/
Patients deserve access to timely, high-quality healthcare that is appropriate to the clinical condition, which includes access to Urgent Care centers for non-emergent acute, episodic care.
Use of Urgent Care centers should be facilitated through patient education, adequate reimbursement and the removal of barriers, such as prior authorization and other restrictive insurance coverage policies that can unnecessarily steer patients to emergency departments. Payers should also consider the incorporation of Urgent Care centers in the testing of innovative payment and health care delivery models.
Payers and regulators should include access to Urgent Care centers when considering provider network adequacy, community health programs and emergency planning.
1 The Impact of Health Care Reform on the Future Supply and Demand for Physicians Updated
Projections Through 2025. Association of American Medical Colleges; June 2010. Accessed online Nov. 14, 2014 https://www.aamc.org/download/158076/data/updated_projections_through_2025.pdf
2 Pitts S, Carrier E. Where Americans Get Acute Care: Increasingly, It’s Not At Their Doctor’s Office. Health Aff September 2010 vol. 29 no. 9 1620-1629 http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/9/1620.long
3 Schoen C, Osborn R, Squires D, and Doty Michelle, Access, Affordability, And Insurance Complexity Are Often Worse In The United States Compared To Ten Other Countries. Health Aff no. (2013). 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0879.
4 Ibid.
Commonwealth Fund Pub 1158 Volume 11
UCA Position on Improving Accessibility to Urgent Care Centers
Patients deserve access to timely, high-quality health care that is appropriate to the clinical condition, which includes access to urgent care centers for non-emergent acute, episodic care.
Use of urgent care centers should be facilitated through patient education, adequate urgent care provider reimbursement, and the removal of barriers, such as prior authorization and other restrictive insurance coverage policies that can unnecessarily steer patients to emergency departments. Payers should also consider the incorporation of urgent care centers in the testing of innovative payment and health care delivery models.
Payers and regulators should include access to urgent care centers when considering provider network adequacy, including adequacy of primary care providers.
5 America’s Emergency Care Environment: A State-by-State Report Card 2014 Edition. American College of Emergency Physicians. Accessed online Nov. 14, 2014 http://www.emreportcard.org/uploadedFiles/EMReportCard2014.pdf