Texas has taken some hard knocks for the proliferation of freestanding emergency rooms there—especially in light of criticism of that industry for surprise billing. It seems too many patients walk into a freestanding ED thinking it’s an urgent care center, only to be socked with emergency room-like charges weeks or months later. The upside (for urgent care, anyway) is that the controversies prompted the Texas Association of Health Plans to do a study of cost savings that could be realized in one setting vs another. Not surprisingly, urgent care shone bright in the results, especially compared with standard hospital EDs. Looking at the nine most common emergency room presentations, urgent care savings ranged from 72% (for visits related to allergies or pink eye) to 83% (urinary tract infections) vs the ED. For good measure, the report referenced a study from Deloitte that noted geographic areas with more urgent care centers see lower ED utilization (and, subsequently, have lower associated healthcare costs).