A walk-in clinic (also known as a walk-in centre) is a

medical facility A health facility is, in general, any location where healthcare is provided. Health facilities range from small clinics and doctor's offices to urgent care centers and large hospitals with elaborate emergency rooms and trauma centers. The numbe ...

that accepts patients on a walk-in basis and with no appointment required. A number of healthcare service providers fall under the walk-in clinic umbrella including

urgent care centers An urgent care center (UCC), also known as an urgent treatment centre in the United Kingdom, is a type of walk-in clinic focused on the delivery of urgent ambulatory care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency department ...

, retail clinics and even many

free clinic A free clinic or walk in clinic is a health care facility in the United States offering services to economically disadvantaged individuals for free or at a nominal cost. The need for such a clinic arises in societies where there is no universal ...

s or community health clinics. Walk-in clinics offer the advantages of being accessible and often inexpensive. It is estimated that there are nearly 11,000 walk-in clinics in America, although it is impossible to calculate an exact number given the variable and ill-defined nature of the category.

Urgent care center An urgent care center (UCC), also known as an urgent treatment centre in the United Kingdom, is a type of walk-in clinic focused on the delivery of urgent ambulatory care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency department ...

s make up the largest percentage of walk-in clinics in America with an estimated 9,000 locations nationwide. In fact, consumers often erroneously refer to all walk-in clinics as urgent care centers, and vice versa. Retail clinics are the next most prevalent in the industry with 1,443 locations as of July 1, 2013. Walk-in clinics have been criticized for providing poor quality healthcare as opposed to professional care such as regular doctors and hospitals. Other disadvantages may include the urgency to make the patient's visit as quick as possible in order to reduce the long waiting list of walk-ins at the clinic, which may fail to fulfill the purpose of the visit.

Services

Urgent care clinics are usually led by

physicians A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. The much smaller category of retail clinics, which are stand-alone clinics located inside large retail stores or shopping malls, tend to be headed by

nurse practitioners A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse and a type of mid-level practitioner. NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, formulate and prescribe ...

. The significantly higher price for an urgent care visit compared to a retail clinic visit is largely attributed to this difference in staffing. All types of walk-in clinics provide basic medical services, such as routine

vaccinations Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

, evaluation of cold and flu symptoms, and treatment for less severe physical injuries. Urgent care centers normally provide more services, such as X-ray testing for suspected pneumonia or broken bones. Access to the patient's regular

medical record The terms medical record, health record and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care across time within one particular health care provider's jurisd ...

s depends on the agreements that the clinic has with other organizations. For example, a walk-in clinic that is part of or affiliated with a hospital or larger clinic may have full access to all the medical records belonging to the larger institution, while an independent walk-in clinic may not have to access any patient records except those related to previous visits to that walk-in clinic. This lack of access can prevent healthcare providers from recognizing chronic problems.Why doctors worry about Minute Clinics--and what they should learn from them
Claire McCarthy , Boston Globe, February 24, 2014

Major companies in the USA

The 100 largest urgent care operators in the United States run approximately 25% of the locations under their banners

Opposition

The existence of walk-in clinics has met some opposition. Doctors acknowledge that retail-based clinics are convenient. Primary care doctors say they are trying to build a relationship with their patients, meet them regularly, and follow up on problems. These clinics interfere with that relationship and can potentially fragment health care. There is also the concern that the urgent care clinics fail to provide the primary care providers documents about the visit for the minor emergency. This can further fragment a patient's care. Claire McCarthy, pediatrician, addressed the lack of shared medical records, "Sometimes a minor thing isn't so minor." The

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was found ...

has recommended that parents do not use retail-based clinics for primary care for their children.{{cite journal , title =From the American Academy of Pediatrics. Policy Statement. AAP Principles Concerning Retail-Based Clinics. , journal =Pediatrics , date =March 1, 2014 , volume =133 , issue =3 , pages =e794–e797 , url =http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/133/3/e794 , doi =10.1542/peds.2013-4080 , pmid =24567015 , author=Laughlin JJ, Simon GR, Baker C, Barden GA, Brown OW, Hardin A, Lessin HR, Meade K, Moore S, Rodgers CT , doi-access =free

References

Clinics Emergency medicine organisations General practice