Facilities fill growing demand as more people get insurance

While some traditional small practices are struggling, the number of urgent care clinics is rising in North Texas and has been increasing nationwide since 2008.

Urgent care clinics are defined as facilities that offer walk-in, extended-hour medical service for children and adults, said Joanna Ray, CEO of the Urgent Care Association of America.

Clinics typically offer a larger scope of treatment than a primary care physician, including treatment of fractures, suturing cuts, providing intravenous drips and X-ray and laboratory processing on-site.

Urgent care clinics do not provide treatment for chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease, Ray said. They also do not cover emergency situations such as labor, heart attacks or strokes.

"Urgent care is really intended more for episodic concerns, such as cold symptoms, sunburn, sprains and fractures," Ray said.

UCAA projections estimate that 300 urgent care facilities were built per year between 2008 and 2010, and the number doubled to 600 per year in the U.S. in 2011.

Some doctors credit the increase to the efficiency of urgent care clinics and a growing demand for health care as more people enroll in insurance plans.