Maine sees boom in urgent care centers
The number of urgent care centers in Maine and other parts of the country are on the rise, in some cases providing patients with less expensive care than the care provided by hospitals.
The Portland Press Herald reported that ClearChoiceMD Urgent Care in Scarborough is the latest of several urgent care centers to have opened in Maine within the past few years.
The latest addition brings Maine's total number of urgent care centers to 23, with 14 of them not belonging to a hospital network. They are part of a $15 billion industry nationwide, having grown by 8% since 2009 and projected to grow by 6% annually over the next five years, according to Arizona-based health care consultancy Strategic Growth Advisors.
Mitchell Stein, a local health policy expert, told the newspaper that “urgent care centers have been very profitable.” He added, “They are quick and less costly for patients.”
Dr. Marcus Hampers, owner of New Hampshire-based ClearChoiceMD, said the company opened its Scarborough location after determining through a market analysis that there is a demand for urgent care centers in Maine. He added that urgent care centers can process patients faster in cases where emergency room-level attention isn't required.
While ClearChoiceMD's prices are mostly comparable to other urgent care centers, hospital affiliates included, independent urgent care centers are likely to be somewhat less expensive because they don't have to cover expenses such as covering patients without insurance who can't pay, according to Dr. Lisa Letourneau, executive director of Maine Quality Counts.
Read more
Battle for beds: Maine's escalating fight for health care dollars
Critical access hospitals under federal scrutiny
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments