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Review
. 2023 Mar;36(2):101-106.
doi: 10.1177/08404704221143300. Epub 2022 Dec 15.

Strength in the gap: A rapid review of principles and practices for urgent care centres

Ponn Benjamin  1 , Rhonda Bryce  1 , Taofiq Oyedokun  2 , James Stempien  2
Affiliations
Review

Strength in the gap: A rapid review of principles and practices for urgent care centres

Ponn Benjamin et al. Healthc Manage Forum. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Responding to a provincial government decision to develop two Urgent Care Centres (UCCs) in Saskatchewan, we undertook a rapid review of published literature with the objective of determining best practices for their creation and functioning. Two English-limited PubMed database searches combining "after-hours care," "ambulatory care," "emergency medicine," "urgent care," "minor emergency," "walk-in," and "Canada" over the past 10 years were the sources of articles for our review. Articles were independently reviewed by two authors and synthesized collaboratively. From 833 articles, 44 were utilized in the review. Six considerations in the following areas were subsequently outlined: expected impact, preferred location, healthcare services collaboration, available services, staffing priorities, and community partnerships. These principles were considered against the backdrop of currently successful Canadian UCCs. This review indicates that general principles for the successful development of UCCs exist; these may guide the establishment and functioning of UCCs both in Saskatchewan and elsewhere.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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