Screening for Diabetes at Urgent Care Could Save Lives

Screening for diabetes at urgent care is presented as a potential lifesaving step because many Americans lack regular primary care access. Federal data from March 2026 cited in the article says more than 101 million Americans live in federally designated primary care shortage areas, and the CDC reports nearly 30% of US adults visited urgent care or retail clinics in 2019. The piece notes that 11 million US adults have diabetes without knowing it, and 8 in 10 of the 115 million with prediabetes are also unaware. It highlights fingerstick A1c testing, which does not require fasting and can return results in about 10 minutes, but is not routinely built into urgent care workflows. Evidence cited includes a 2008 comparison showing close tracking between fingerstick A1c and lab values, with a correlation of 0.96 among patients without prior diagnosis. However, follow-up systems remain the key limitation. The article notes Medicare covers up to two diabetes screening tests per year since 2024 for at-risk beneficiaries, but uptake is lagging.