How urgent care relates to physicians practices

Primary care physicians have long viewed urgent care centers as a threat, a costly convenience, and a barrier to continuity of care. And at one time all of that may have been true.

But as the outpatient medicine market evolves, the benefits of having a new link in the care continuum chain have also become clear. Urgent care centers not only improve access, but liberate primary care providers to do what they do best: preventive medicine and chronic care management, says David Meyers, MD chief medical officer for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 

 

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“Is this the end of primary care? No way,” says Meyers, a family physician. “At its best, primary care [practices are] focused on prevention and wellness, on the ongoing treatment of chronic disease, depression, and end-of-life care. That’s the foundation of our healthcare system. That’s what primary care is.”

Urgent care centers don’t compete with physician practices, he contends, they complement them. Payment reform, telehealth technology and a growing emphasis on patient-centered medicine have redefined how care is delivered, Meyers says. “We are living in a very exciting time of significant healthcare change,” he says. “Urgent care centers help put resources in the right places.”

 

The move to “best fit” medicine, in which patients receive the right level of care where and when they want it, comes not a moment too soon. As the population ages, a growing percentage of patients require the expertise of a primary care physician to treat complex medical conditions, says Meyers.

Because many medical practices struggle to keep pace with demand, however, patients who require disease management expertise often must wait weeks or months to be seen by their primary care doctor, a dangerous by product of the primary care physician shortage. 

The Association of American Medical Colleges projects a shortfall of up to 31,100 primary care physicians by 2025.  At present, roughly 50 million Americans live in areas--most of which are rural--with an undersupply of primary care physicians, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Wait times at primary care physician practices are likely to worsen before they get better. Millions more Americans are now insured under the Affordable Care Act, which could generate an additional 25 million primary care visits annually, according to projections from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “That’s putting an added strain on the healthcare system and the place we’re seeing that strain most is in acute care,” says Meyers, adding that urgent care centers can help alleviate some of that strain. 

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