One ACEP Task Force member compared the current urgent care landscape to EDs when they were first incorporated into hospitals, setting the stage for the creation of ACEP 56 years ago.

The Task Force meeting at ACEP24 brought together 15 emergency physicians, including some who participated remotely.

The focus was to define the objectives, explore the differences between urgent care and other health care models, and establish a roadmap for the Task Force’s work. A significant part of their discussion was to investigate how ACEP could provide resources for emergency physicians transitioning to urgent care settings, as well as develop an understanding of how urgent care centers are regulated and managed.

The Task Force’s objectives range from analyzing the current landscape of urgent care to the creation of an Urgent Care Section of Membership for those who practice in this setting or might move in that direction. One of the key objectives is to distinguish urgent care from similar models, like freestanding EDs. Task Force members agreed that this distinction is crucial, as the two models operate differently and cater to distinct patient needs. Urgent care centers focus on providing immediate but non-emergency care, while freestanding EDs are designed to offer the full range of emergency services, albeit outside of a traditional hospital setting.

The College of Urgent Care Medicine reports more than 205 million patient visits in 2022 compared to 131 million in EDs, according to CDC statistics. The workforce in urgent care, according to the association, is primarily made up of health care professionals trained in family medicine at 45 percent. Thirty-five percent are trained in emergency medicine, eight percent in pediatrics, and three percent in internal medicine.

“We know that traditional brick-and-mortar practice and ED emergency medicine alone will likely not suffice long term,” said Dr. Terry. “It’s time to get the building blocks of knowledge that we need to understand this space, and then, more specifically, understand how to ideally insert ourselves into that space in a meaningful way.”

The Task Force identified several challenges that need to be addressed. One key issue is the lack of standardized regulations across the urgent care industry. Unlike hospitals and EDs, which are heavily regulated, urgent care centers operate under a patchwork of state-level regulations, making it difficult to ensure consistent quality of care. Another challenge is the relationship between urgent care centers and hospitals. In some cases, hospitals may see urgent care centers as competitors, which can lead to tension and potentially hinder collaboration.