According to the CDC, flu activity continues to be elevated across most parts of the country for the week ending January 6, 2024. Outpatient respiratory illness showed a small decrease but remains above baseline nationally (Since November 2023) in all regions. Influenza A accounted for 80 % of flu cases. In Experity clinics, December had the most confirmed flu cases for the year – about 6.7% higher than the previous peak in August.
The CDC estimates that there have been at least 14 million illnesses, 150,000 hospitalizations, and 9,400 deaths from flu so far this season.
Last Updated 1/16/2024
Visits Per Clinic Per Day
The seven-day rolling average has been increasing month-over-month since October to an average of40+ visits per clinic per day at the end of December. We saw a slight drop over the holidays. When compared to pre-COVID data from 2019, the trend line for 2023 is consistent. Visits that included COVID testing also increased over the third quarter.
Visits Per Clinic Per Day By Category
Experity clinics experienced the highest visit volumes since August during the third quarter of 2023, in part due to rising confirmed COVID and flu visits. December had the most confirmed cases of flu for the year, about 6.7 percent higher than the previous peak in August.
National Flu visits per day by season
This year’s flu season looks very similar to 2019, prior to the pandemic, with visits peaking in late December to nearly four visits per clinic per day. The southern regions of the US and areas along the coast are experiencing extremely high levels of flu. Central regions have low to moderate risk levels, but should expect it to rise over the next several months as flu moves across the country.
While door-to-door times have dropped dramatically post-pandemic, staffing and other challenges
continue to be problematic for some clinics.
Door-to-door time for urgent care visits peaked at an average of 65-75 minutes in the fall of 2022, but since that time there has been a significant decrease. As of October, average door-to-door time is 55 minutes per visit.
From 2020 to present, average door-to-door time was less than one hour for 57 percent of all urgent care visits, with 22 percent of visits from 31-45 minutes.
From a high of 3.6 in 2020, average E/M visits in Experity clinics dropped significantly in 2021 but continue to rise (3.48) in 2023.
Check out some of our top resources to help urgent cares manage and leverage fluctuating visit volume to secure continued business growth throughout the year.
