Is Urgent Care Replacing Primary Care Physicians? (2024)

A recent survey by RegisteredNursing.org showed that many Americans are turning to convenient care clinics and urgent care for healthcare services typically performed by a primary care provider.

For an overwhelming majority of the 1,004 respondents (77%), the reason why boils down to the immediate availability of care. More than half of respondents (54%) simply want faster service.

The survey results come at a time when primary care providers are in short supply. Many primary care providers (PCPs) have a full load of patients each day, so they may not have open appointments when patients are sick and need to be seen on the same day. They may not be taking new patients at all. One in four survey participants said they don’t have a PCP.

While convenient care clinics focus on the problem at hand, primary care providers say they consider a patient’s health from a broader perspective.

“It’s important to have someone who knows you as a person,” Lori Solomon, MD, MPH, Chair and Clinical Associate Professor of‌ Family and Community Medicine at New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York, told Verywell.

What Are the Alternatives to Primary Care?

Convenient care clinics, often found within popular community locations such as grocery stores or pharmacies, provide walk-in and same-day appointments for routine healthcare. CVS MinuteClinic is one example. Services may include physical exams, vaccines, minor illness or injury care, STI screening, and counseling for chronic diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and depression.

Urgent care centers, on the other hand, can see patients who need same-day care but do not need to be in the emergency room.

According to the survey, the most common reasons for convenient or urgent care clinic visits include illness or infections, injuries or pain, medical tests, screenings, physical exams, and vaccines.

More Convenient, But Not Always More Preferred

Over half of the respondents say they’ve gone to a walk-in clinic, while 82% have gone to urgent care.

The draw isn’t just appointment availability, but also ease of access. Urgent care clinics alone are growing at a pace of over 7% per year in the U.S.—at the end of 2019, there were 11,481 urgent care centers nationwide. By the end of 2022, that figure hit 14,075.

“People are mobile, and when they are traveling, they are going to see whoever is most readily available wherever they are,” Caryn Bowden, FNP-C, a pediatric nurse practitioner with Wilmington Health in North Carolina, told Verywell.

Meanwhile, primary care providers are dwindling because of reasons ranging from too many patients and too much administrative documentation to low compensation compared to other specialties.

“The American Academy of Family Physicians is committed to increasing the number of family physicians in the United States and ensuring patients have a usual source of care,”Sarah Sams, MD, family physician and board member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, told Verywell. “We know from research that more than 1 in 10 U.S. children don’t have a primary doctor, and more than 1 in 4 adults don’t have one either.There has been a nearly 40% jump in the share of U.S. children without a usual source of care over the last decade. This is concerning because we know that patients with a primary care physician have higher rates of preventive care, have improved communication with their care team, and often experience better health outcomes.”

Two-thirds of survey respondents said they would prefer to see their regular doctor over a convenient care or urgent care practitioner. It’s just not always realistic.

The good news is that the quality of care doesn’t seem to suffer. When compared to their primary care provider, 73% of survey respondents felt they received equal or better quality care from a walk-in clinic.

If you go to a convenient care center, you will likely be seen by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant instead of a physician. Each state individually determines regulations regarding nurse practitioner and physician assistant practice. While physicians have more extensive training than nurse practitioners and physician assistants, most communities would be unable to meet their population’s healthcare needs if they relied solely on physicians.

Why You Should See a Primary Care Provider If Possible

A doctor who knows your medical history will more likely accurately diagnose your condition, especially if your problem has been ongoing. An urgent care visit will rule out conditions that need immediate attention, but long-term health issues require more in-depth evaluation.

If you must visit urgent care or a walk-in clinic, you should schedule a follow-up appointment with your primary care provider afterward.

“Primary care providers have ongoing relationships with their patients over the years. That is key to maintaining health and keeping patients out of the hospital,” Solomon said. “Primary care providers are going to get a comprehensive picture and do a complete workup. Turning to a walk-in clinic may be quicker, but in the long run, seeing your primary care provider saves more time and energy.”

Primary care visits are also an opportunity to check that you are up-to-date on other medical tests or care you may need.

“When you utilize quick care, you’re missing out on a lot of preventative care, like mammograms and vaccines, that keep you healthy over the long term,” Sams said.

Some primary care providers practice within larger hospital systems or healthcare networks. If possible, when you need urgent care, visit a walk-in facility within the same organization as your primary care provider. They often use electronic medical records, and your primary care provider can review the notes from your walk-in visit.

“We have a walk-in clinic housed within our office. It is staffed during office hours, and at times, extended hours. Patients can walk in and be seen by one of their doctors’s partners, who will have access to their medical records and history,” Sams said of her primary care practice. “The provider who sees the patient can message or even text the primary care provider during or after the visit.”

How to Find a Reliable Primary Care Provider

Almost one-third of the U.S. population does not have a primary care provider, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers. These individuals may be uninsured, live in a community with few primary care providers, or be healthy and not see the need for routine medical care.

If you are looking for a primary care provider, Bowden recommends selecting a convenient care clinic that is affiliated with a larger hospital or healthcare network.

“Those providers can say, ‘You need a follow-up, let’s get you into one of our providers.’ Stand-alone clinics don’t have those peer-to-peer relationships,” she said. Plus, walk-in clinics that are part of larger healthcare systems often use electronic medical records that other providers within the network can view, so a new primary care provider can view your previous convenient or urgent care visits.

If you try a new primary care provider and don’t have a great experience, don’t be afraid to seek out a new one for your next visit. A solid doctor-patient relationship ultimately depends on whether the personalities and philosophies of each person align.

“People avoid going to their physician if they don’t feel like it’s a good match,” Sams said.