Urgent Care Is Hitting Its Stride in Fighting COVID-19—and Seeing Record Visits

Urgent care may have been relegated to the sidelines at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has entered the game and is contributing in a big way if new data from Experity are any indication. The health information technology company revealed record high visits in July, including 105,000 patients on July 6 alone—the highest single-day volume of the year. The company’s interpretation of the data is that urgent care centers are playing a central role in testing for COVID-19, and in treating patients who don’t have COVID-19 for both immediate needs and ongoing issues that have gone unchecked over the past few months. Experity and the Urgent Care Association are working together to provide data resources to the U.S. Department of Health and the National Governors Association, among other public health entities. Our industry is likely to play an even more important role in the coming months, as public health experts in federal and state governments, as well as medical schools, expect new cases to build when more schools and businesses reopen.