Do urgent care centers reduce Medicare spending?

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Healthcare Economics
• Public Health

Background:

• Urgent care centers (UCCs) have become more prevalent, but their impact on healthcare costs and utilization for Medicare beneficiaries remains unclear.
• Understanding the economic and utilization effects of UCCs is crucial for healthcare policy and resource allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of urgent care centers (UCCs) on healthcare costs and utilization among Medicare beneficiaries in adjacent geographic areas.
• To determine if UCCs lead to increased overall healthcare spending or shifts in service utilization patterns.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal analysis of Medicare claims data for beneficiaries in zip codes before and after the introduction of a UCC.
• Statistical modeling to estimate changes in total Medicare spending, per-capita spending, and utilization of services, including hospitalizations.

Main Results:

• Introduction of a UCC in a zip code was associated with a rise in total Medicare spending, with no significant change in mortality rates.
• By the sixth year post-UCC entry, 4.2% of Medicare beneficiaries used a UCC, leading to an average annual per-capita spending increase of $268.
• UCC entry correlated with increased hospital stays, with hospital spending accounting for half of the total observed increase in annual healthcare costs.

Conclusions:

• Urgent care centers may increase overall healthcare costs for Medicare beneficiaries.
• The observed increase in spending is partly driven by higher hospital utilization, suggesting UCCs might facilitate or encourage hospital admissions.