If you’re looking for better and more comprehensive medical care that what you might find in your local emergency room, you might consider your local urgent care center to meet your healthcare needs. Healthcare at the typical urgent care clinic is actually typically much higher in quality than many people realize, and is only improving as time passes on.
After all, the typical urgent care location is only growing more and more popular with this passage of time. Already, as many as three million people attend various urgent care locations on a weekly basis, served by the up to 20,000 doctors employed at such medical clinics. And according to data that has been recently gathered, more than one quarter (around 27%, to be just a bit more exact) of all people within the United States alone have attended at least one urgent care center over the course of the last two years or so. With more than 7,000 urgent care centers now found all throughout the country, obtaining care at such a clinic has become easier than ever before – and will likely only continue to become easier and easier in the years that are ahead.
And wait times at your typical urgent care location will make getting the healthcare that you need easier and more convenient than ever before. Seeking healthcare at an emergency room is less than ideal for this very reason – unless, of course, you are experiencing a true medical emergency. If you go to an emergency room with a non emergency medical condition, you’ll likely wait for at least one hour – if not even more – before actually even speaking to a medical professional. On top of this, you’ll wait even longer once you eventually do get a bed. In urgent care locations, things are different, with more than 90% of all urgent care centers offering care with an average wait time of no more than a mere half of an hour. And in more than half of all urgent care centers (around 60% of them, to be just a bit more specific), the average wait time is no greater than even just 15 minutes in total.
The standard of care is also more impressive than many people realize. After all, the data that has been gathered on the subject more than backs this up, as this data shows that less than 5% of all urgent care cases must ultimately be sent for treatment in the emergency room. Conversely, however, it has been found that up to 60% or more of all ER cases could have actually been treated in a nearby walk in clinic, something that would have likely saved such patients a good deal of time and money alike. And many urgent care centers can meet much more complex healthcare needs than many people realize – at least at first.
For instance, fracture care can be provided at more than three quarters of all urgent care centers – in around 80% of them, to be more exact. In addition to this, up to 70% of all urgent care locations can also provide IV fluids, should they be necessary. And, of course, more common ailments can also be diagnosed and treated in the typical urgent care center. Common conditions seen in such establishments include acute sinusitis, acute respiratory infections, acute pharyngitis, cough, and various types of fever. And these are just the top most common conditions treated at the time that the data was collected – there are many more seen as well.
Urgent care centers can even provide some forms of preventative healthcare that will keep you from getting sick in the first place. For instance, the flu shot is something that can typically be obtained at local urgent care centers found all throughout the country. For all who are able, the flu shot is incredibly important to get. It can even save your life, as the flu is much more dangerous (or potentially so) than many people realize. While at risk populations are of course most likely to suffer serious repercussions from the flu, even healthy young adults can unfortunately lose their lives to the flu.