> In the US, depending on your health plan, the fastest way to see a doctor is Urgent Care

Correct. It’s faster than getting your PCP to see you and it’s faster than Emergency Room (which GP was comparing the wait times for in other countries). But how much you wait really depends on a lot of factors: how many other patients are sick that day, what time of day are you calling, does the urgent care take appointments, how many urgent care centers are in your area etc. In my area if you call at 8 in the morning and the urgent care you are calling gives out appointments, you’ll probably be seen the same day. You’ll have to wait for your appointment, but once you show up for the appointment, you’ll be seen immediately.

If you’re calling in later (after 10 in the morning) or walking in to a facility, you’ll probably be waiting at least 2-3 hours if you’re lucky. All of this of course comes with higher costs (not as much as ER though).

The problem with urgent care though is that it’s more expensive if you’re running tests and is only designed to fill in for conditions that you’d ideally want your PCP to take care of, but can’t get an appointment for. True emergencies still go to ER. In fact some urgent cares don’t even have equipment like xray or sonography machines, so if you need one, you’d end up in ER anyway. (and get charged for both)