ArticleBMC health services research2021
Urgent care center wait times increase for COVID-19 results in August 2020, with rapid testing availability limited.
Article in BMC health services research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Classifying healthcare facilities as predictors of COVID-19 mortality rates in US counties (2020-2021).Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Association of race, ethnicity, and housing stability with COVID-19 testing method by investigators in underserved populations 2020-2023.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Telehealth Availability for Cancer Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR cancer · 2023Article
- The Course and Surgical Treatment of Acute Appendicitis during the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis in University Affiliated Hospital in Latvia.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
- Access to telehealth services for colorectal cancer patients in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.American journal of surgery · 2022Article
- Acceptance of Simulated Adult Patients With Medicaid Insurance Seeking Care in a Cancer Hospital for a New Cancer Diagnosis.JAMA network open · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn a response to the pandemic, urgent care centers (UCCs) have gained a critical role as a common location for COVID-19 testing. We sought to characterize the changes in testing accessibility at UCCs between March and August 2020 on the basis of testing availability (including rapid antigen testing), wait time for test results, cost of visits, and cost of tests.
methodsData were collected using a secret shopper methodology. Researchers contacted 250 UCCs in 10 states. Investigators used a standardized script to survey centers on their COVID-19 testing availability and policies. UCCs were initially contacted in March and re-called in August. T-tests and chi-square tests were conducted to identify differences between March and August data and differences by center classification.
resultsOur results indicate that both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to detect COVID-19 genetic material and rapid antigen COVID-19 tests have increased in availability. However, wait times for PCR test results have significantly increased to an average of 5.79 days. Additionally, a high proportion of UCCs continue to charge for tests and visits and no significant decrease was found in the proportion of UCCs that charge for COVID-19 testing from March to August. Further, no state reported a majority of UCCs with rapid testing available, indicating an overall lack of rapid testing.
conclusionsFrom March to August, COVID-19 testing availability gradually improved. However, many barriers lie in access to COVID-19 testing, including testing costs, visit costs, and overall lack of availability of rapid testing in the majority of UCCs. Despite the passage of the CARES Act, these results suggest that there is room for additional policy to improve accessibility to testing, specifically rapid testing.
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