Blending Occupational Medicine and Urgent Care: The Best of Both Worlds
The American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine (http://aaucm.org/) reports that since 2008 the number of urgent care centers in the United States has increased from approximately 8,000 to 9,300 and between 50 and 100 new clinics are likely to open annually for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the Urgent Care Association of America’s (www.ucaoa.org/) 2012 benchmarking survey found that in 2011, the average number of patients per day per location was 51— up from 45 or 13% in 2008. As occupational health programs continue to add prevention and wellness services to their model, it makes sense for the two entities to merge.