Market Trends of Global Urgent Care Center Industry
Hospital Owned Urgent Care Centers Segment is Anticipated to Grow at a High CAGR Over the Forecast Period
Hospital-owned urgent care centers are urgent care facilities operated in remote areas as an extension of hospitals. This expands hospitals' clinical reach to other regions and coordinates care. As the urgent care centers are growing in a notable phase, hospitals and primary healthcare providers are focusing on entering the urgent care centers market to prevent their patients from leaking away to alternative care. Factors, such as the growing burden the chronic diseases, increasing focus on patient care coupled with a favorable reimbursement environment for the hospital-owned urgent care centers, and ease of market entry compared to other segments, are expected to boost the hospital-owned urgent care center market's growth.
The growing burden of different diseases is boosting the growth of the market segment For instance, according to the World Health Organization article titled 'Musculoskeletal Conditions' updated in February 2021, Approximately 1.71 billion people have musculoskeletal conditions worldwide. The same source reported that globally nearly 436 million include fractures, and 305 million injuries contribute to the overall burden of musculoskeletal diseases.
Additionally, in March 2021, Trinity Health, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation, acquired a majority ownership stake in Premier Health, a recognized national leader in urgent care. The relationship with Premier Health is part of Trinity Health's strategy to increase access to convenient, local health care services in its current communities as well as in new markets in partnership with other leading health care organizations.
Hence, owing aforementioned factors, the hospital-owned segment is expected to show significant growth over the forecast period.
North America Dominates the Market and Expected to do Same Over the Forecast Period
North America is expected to dominate the overall urgent care center market, throughout the forecast period. This is due to factors such as technological advancements in telemedicine and the adaptation of such technologies by urgent care providers to strengthen their services, coupled with the rising prevalence of chronic diseases and high public and private healthcare spending, and the establishment of urgent care centers are expected to propel the growth of the market in the region.
Additionally, the growing burden of various emergency conditions such as accidents, and sports injuries are contributing to the increasing number of visits to urgent care and thus drives the growth of the market in the nation. For instance, according to the National Safety Council (NSC), in 2020, bicycling accounted for about 426,000 injuries, the most of any category of sports and recreation. Exercise, with or without equipment, is followed by about 378,000 injuries. The same source reported that in the United States, off-highway vehicles in 2019 account for 96,000 injuries, and in 2020 it reached 112,300 injuries. Such an increasing number of injuries in the United States are majorly contributing to the growth of the market.
Furthermore, with the increased footfall in urgent care due to these injuries, there are lots of strategic initiatives taken by the organization to enter the market or strengthen its position in the market. For Instance, in February 2022, CRH Healthcare (CRH) partnered with Adventist HealthCare (AHC) and acquired their three Urgent Care centers in Germantown, Rockville, and Laurel, Maryland. All three centers have established themselves as leaders in their communities with experienced providers and support staff serving the walk-in urgent care needs of patients in the area as well as employers' occupational healthcare needs. The partnership begins February 1, 2022, and will include having the centers join the One Health Quality Alliance, Adventists HealthCare's clinically integrated network, which focuses on the coordination and quality of care across the healthcare continuum.
Thus, owing to the abovementioned factors, the urgent care center is expected to project growth over the forecast period.
