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CC-USC: An Innovative Model to Improve Access to Unplanned Care Within Coordinated Primary Care Structures

Mélanie BADIN, Pierre-Marie BADIN, David JUGE and Chloé SIKIRDJI

Access to primary care in the Gard Department, as in much of France, has deteriorated, causing delayed consultations and high use of emergency departments (ED). Many patients postpone care due to long waits, while avoidable emergency visits remain frequent. Rising demand for unscheduled care (USC) has led to non-coordinated USC centres, which provide unplanned care but may disrupt primary care by diverting clinicians from longitudinal care. To address these challenges, three Coordinated Center for Unscheduled Care same-day care (CC-USC) structures were established to expand access without extending physician hours, reduce inequalities, and integrate USC into primary care.CC-USCs are located in Pont-Saint-Esprit, Bessèges, and Vergèze, staffed by stable multidisciplinary teams of general practitioners, nurses, and medical assistants. Each morning, a three-person team provides walk-in access using two to three consultation rooms. Patients are triaged by a medical assistants and seen if they belong to the primary care team or live in the territory without a family doctor. Others are asked to call the on-duty Gard regulatory physician and are redirected to CC-USC if needed. Only unscheduled care is addressed; routine or administrative requests are excluded. Nurses manage prioritisation, initiate consultations, and handle simple cases using validated protocols, while physicians manage most consultations. Strengths include structured triage, continuity within primary care, and population-based care. Limitations involve constrained infrastructure, practice-funded staffing, and limited nurse autonomy.Unlike non-coordinated USC centres, CC-USCs are integrated within primary care teams, and adopt a population-based approach to unscheduled care. No comparable structures currently exist in France.Future evaluations will assess whether CC-USCs increase access, reduce physician time spent on unscheduled care, and decrease ED use. The model could be scaled to other multidisciplinary practices, preventing the disorganisation caused by non-coordinated USC centres.International evidence suggests that coordinated same-day care models improve continuity and reduce avoidable emergency visits, supporting the innovation of CC-USCs. While limitations remain, the model offers a replicable framework in other places in France.CC-USCs represent a scalable innovation to strengthen community-based primary care, improve access and quality of unscheduled care, reduce ED use, and provide a blueprint for broader implementation in primary care settings.