Urgent Care Clinics — the Primary Care Overflow
As it gets more difficult to make an appointment with a primary care doctor, one business model is picking up the slack: walk-in medical centers. Walk-in clinics — from drugstore chains that offer limited services from a nurse to stand-alone clinics operated by emergency room doctors — are increasingly treating people who either don’t have a regular doctor or can’t get in to see one when they need to. And if Congress succeeds in passing a nationwide health insurance mandate, the urgent care industry expects even more growth.
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Aired on WFCR on October 8, 2009, and on NPR’s All Things Considered, Nov. 20, 2009.
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