In any kind of medical situation that we can’t fix with a Band-Aid and some neosporin or a few pills, we tend to call 911 and head to the emergency room. In recent years, the emergency room has been flooded with cases that aren’t technically an “emergency,” although they’re serious enough to warrant attention from a medical professional. Wait times, stress levels, and high costs are giving emergency rooms a bad rap, when it’s partially due to the fact that the emergency room staff have to prioritize the true life-or-death emergencies over someone with a bad flu or a stomach bug. So if the emergency rooms are too crowded and expensive, where can someone turn? The answer is an urgent care clinic. Doctors urgent care are consummate professionals who can assist you with your medical needs and get you in and out of the clinic with a diagnosis and treatment for your ailment.
What Is An Urgent Care Facility Exactly?
Urgent care is a type of walk in clinic that deals with any illnesses or injuries that need care quickly, but aren’t quite serious enough to have to go to the emergency room. They treat a wide range of conditions and often have slightly more advanced facilities such as X-ray equipment on their premises than a convenient care clinic, for example. They may also have extended hours — a little under three quarters of doctors urgent care clinics are open at or before 8 am and almost 100% close after 7 pm. They’re also open seven days a week, with a variety of medical exam rooms open, and have a licensed practitioner working as the medical director.
Why Shouldn’t I Be Going to the ER? I’ve Never Even Heard of Urgent Care
As mentioned above, the emergency room is often overcrowded, which results in a significantly longer wait for patients. If you’re in a medical emergency, this may add to the stress level for you and your loved ones, which is not good for your health, and can often result in anger and lashing out, which doesn’t benefit either you or your family or the medical professionals working in the emergency room.
Additionally, according to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, an emergency room visit is expensive — in 2009, the average visit cost a person over $1,300! In all cases, it was usually over $600. Doctors urgent care is increasingly prevalent in communities — there’s a good chance there’s at least one urgent care center in your area or near your area. The Urgent Care Association of America reports that at least three million patients visit them weekly, and with 20,000 physicians working in urgent care medicine today, you know you’re guaranteed stellar treatment.
What Can An Urgent Care Facility Treat?
Urgent care can handle any non-life threatening medical condition — such as a bad cold, the flu, a high fever, a respiratory condition, or a bad sprain or a minor wound, you want to head to urgent care for sure. Indeed, in 2012, the most common diagnosis that was given was for an upper respiratory condition and the most common procedure done was wound repair. Four-fifths of urgent care centers also can provide fracture repair. Getting your physical done for a sport, school, or employment, can also happen at an urgent care center. Doctors urgent care can also do X-rays if you’ve broken a bone or fractured something and many have the capacity for lab testing for things like blood count, blood glucose, mono, flu, strep, and pregnancy. Many urgent care centers also offer pediatric care, for worrisome things like bronchitis, rashes or any infections, or treating cuts, sprains, or breaks.
Although you should go to the ER immediately for things such as heart attacks or strokes, heavy bleeding, head injuries, or an unconscious patient, urgent care can be a great resource for non-life threatening emergencies that need medical attention past what you can give in the home. Seek out your nearest urgent care — many are open early, close late, and are often available during the weekend or during holidays to provide you with the care you need.