Urgent care is in. The segment has grown dramatically over the past decade, with no signs of stopping. From 2013 to 2019, there was a nearly 60% increase in the number of urgent care facilities across the U.S.
As the sector grows, more and more patients are turning to urgent care for their health needs — visiting for primary care or more time-sensitive issues, like cases of the flu or Covid-19. In 2023, the volume of new urgent care facilities on Zocdoc has grown by an average of nearly 40% month over month, while the volume of urgent care bookings has grown by an average of 80% month over month. Given the growth of urgent care on the platform, Zocdoc has some interesting findings about patient behavior. Let’s get into it.
Urgent care centers have the capacity to provide a wide range of services. One study by the Urgent Care Association shows that urgent care facilities handle nearly 90 million visits each year, which “includes more than 29% of all primary care visits in the US and nearly 15% of all outpatient physician visits.”
While urgent care centers are not equipped to treat the same life-threatening conditions as emergency rooms, most UC providers can conduct X-rays, basic lab tests and administer vaccines. They are also adept at handling minor women’s health issues, like vaginal infections.
These are the top 10 urgent care visit reasons on Zocdoc:
As patients seek out urgent care for time-sensitive issues, they want to be able to find care as quickly and seamlessly as possible. In fact, 83% of urgent care appointments take place within less than 24 hours of being booked, compared to 17% of Zocdoc appointments that aren’t urgent care. Patients also tend to book urgent care appointments in later hours of the day, compared to other appointments on Zocdoc.
Here are some other Zocdoc insights:
Zocdoc patients who book urgent care appointments are most likely to be female, and in their 20s. According to the CDC, women make up more urgent care appointments than men. Zocdoc data tells a similar story. So far, on Zocdoc, in 2023, 63% of urgent care bookings were made by female patients and 37% by male patients. (However, bookings by gender across Zocdoc as a whole are fairly similar: Typically men make up around 35% of Zocdoc bookings, while women make up the remaining 65%.)
Zocdoc urgent care bookers also tend to be from younger generations. On Zocdoc, 40% of UC bookers were in their 20s, 33% in their 30s and 26% were 40+.
As the urgent care sector continues to grow, Zocdoc will continue to provide its patients with reliable providers who are available when they need care.
