As the cooler weather approaches, urgent care clinics are once again gearing up to handle to patients that present with seasonal flu and upper respiratory infections — including the increase in COVID-19. Beginning in May-June, we saw the beginning of a spike in COVID-19 test positivity that increased to just over 17% in August — higher than during last winter’s peak rate, according to the CDC. This generally translates to more urgent care visits, especially in states where there are increasing positive rates of COVID-19. Average visits per clinic per day are up from 28 during June, to 32 during the last week of August.
Last Updated 9/4/2024
Positive tests for the virus that causes COVID-19 reached 18% in August surpassing last winter’s December spike. With the rise in positive tests to the virus that causes COVID-19, it’s important to consider COVID testing for patient that present with respiratory complaints. While many of the symptoms of the newest variants are milder than previous variants, the spread of the virus to health-compromised patients continues to be a challenge.
Source: CDC
Visits Per Clinic Per Day
After a low of 23 average visits per clinic per day in July, visit volume is trending up to nearly 28 as of the last week of August.
Source: Experity Data
Visits Per Clinic Per Day By Category
Experity clinics experienced the highest visit volumes since March during the third quarter of 2024, in part due to rising confirmed COVID-19 visits, up from a low of nearly 0 throughout the first few months of summer. Over the last year, December 2023 had the most confirmed cases of flu and COVID-19. Clinics are currently seeing an average of 2 patients per day with confirmed COVID, and 8 visits per day respiratory, ear, and COVID symptoms. So far this fall, we are not seeing flu in any significant numbers.
Source: Experity Data
Urgent Care Quarterly
Want more industry data? Check out the latest version of Urgent Care Quarterly where we review the state of the urgent care industry and provide the latest data on other metrics that matter to your practice.
Average Revenue Per Visit
Net revenue per visit (NRPV) at the end of 2023 averaged $132, an increase of two percent (reflects visits with a 0 balance only). As urgent care clinics return to traditional practices and encourage (and train) providers to avoid referring patients to the ER or specialists, and instead take advantage of tools like differential diagnosis to ensure they are including all complaints in their documentation, we will continue to see revenue per visit increase over time.
Source: Experity Data
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.