Growth, But Not Unlimited Growth for U.S. Urgent Care Centers, Says Report
With approximately 10,000 locations across the country, urgent care clinics (UCCs), are an increasingly important part of the U.S. health care marketplace. And urgent care centers are expected to grow in three distinct ways, according to a new Kalorama Information report. They will grow in the number of locations, there will be more patients visiting them each day, and the centers will earn more revenue from them. The three factors have a multiplier effect. This will lead to a 24.8 billion-dollar market in 2020 and growth near eight percent.
Urgent care’s story in the United States has been all about growth. They offer walk-in care and a range of services, expanded hours and limited wait times. They usually have imaging equipment and multiple providers and are in a freestanding location or a dedicated store within a retail strip mall. For the boom years of 2010-2017, this has largely been true. And Kalorama says, growth will continue.
However, urgent care growth will be limited by the competition and saturation of markets, and competition from retail clinics, and extended hours at physician offices. The sheer amount of locations is draining the available patient population. This, compounded by the trend of seniors tending to use physician care rather than urgent care, does set a limit on the amount of locations there can be in the U.S. in the future.
“The market is not mature, but the maturation point is visible,” said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. “You have statistics that 50,000 patients in a population are needed to support an urgent care. We’ve passed that point years ago. Many centers can thrive but they are fighting it out for patients, and fighting with retail clinics and physicians.”
Per the Urgent Care Association – “76.6% of the U.S. population resides within a 10-minute drive to an urgent care center.” – https://www.ucaoa.org/Portals/80/pdfs/COVID-19/Joint%20Covid%20Statement_CCA_UCA.pdf
While this is good news for urgent care as an industry, Kalorama says this also means there are limits to growth. The industry will not be a “boom mode” forever. The fastest growth, Kalorama estimates, happened in the early part of this decade, between 2011 and 2017. Some locations will come now at the expense of closed locations. Rural areas we’ll also see the greater amount of new locations.
Kalorama’s report can be found at: https://kaloramainformation.com/product/the-u-s-market-for-urgent-care-centers/
About Kalorama Information:
Kalorama Information, part of Science and Medicine Group, is the leading publisher of market research in healthcare areas, including in vitro diagnostics (IVD), biotechnology, healthcare, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. Science and Medicine Group supports companies seeking to commercialize the rapidly changing marketplace at the intersection of science, medicine, and technology. Comprised of industry-leading brands, Science and Medicine Group serves analytical instrument, life science, imaging, and clinical diagnostic companies by helping them create strategies and products to win markets and provide platforms to digitally engage their markets through a variety of innovative solutions. Kalorama Information produces 30 reports a year. The firm offers a Knowledge Center, which provides access to all published reports.
