The impact of urgent care centers on nonemergent emergency department visits

Objective To estimate the impact of urgent care centers on emergency department (ED) use. Data Sources Secondary data from a novel urgent care center database, linked to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) from six states. Study Design We used a di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health services research 2021-08, Vol.56 (4), p.721-730
Main Authors: Allen, Lindsay, Cummings, Janet R., Hockenberry, Jason M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acuity
Algorithms
Ambulatory care facilities
Clinics
Company business management
Data collection
Emergencies
Emergency Care
emergency departments
Emergency medical care
Emergency medical services
Emergency service
Emergency services
Expenditures
Extraction
Government programs
Health care
Health care access
health care costs
Health care expenditures
Health insurance
Health services utilization
Hospital emergency services
Hospitalization
Hospitals
Influence
Medicaid
Patients
Postal codes
urgent care
Visits
Waiting times
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Summary:Objective To estimate the impact of urgent care centers on emergency department (ED) use. Data Sources Secondary data from a novel urgent care center database, linked to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) from six states. Study Design We used a difference‐in‐differences design to examine ZIP code‐level changes in the acuity mix of emergency department visits when local urgent care centers were open versus closed. ZIP codes with no urgent care centers served as a control group. We tested for differential impacts of urgent care centers according to ED wait time and patient insurance status. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Urgent care center daily operating times were determined via the urgent care center database. Emergency department visit acuity was assessed by applying the NYU ED algorithm to the SEDD data. Urgent care locations and nearby emergency department encounters were linked via zip code. Principal Findings We found that having an open urgent care center in a ZIP code reduced the total number of ED visits by residents in that ZIP code by 17.2% (P 
ISSN:0017-9124
1475-6773
DOI:10.1111/1475-6773.13631