Synergism of an Urgent Care Walk-in Clinic With an Emergency Department.

Background: The overutilization of hospital emergency departments by low-urgency patients is seen as a growing problem in health-care delivery, and a variety of solutions are under discussion. We studied the change in utilization of a hospital emergency department (ED) by low-urgency patients after an urgent care walk-in clinic (WIC) was opened in the immediate vicinity.

Methods: A prospective, single-center pre-post comparative study was carried out at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).