Ever had an accident and had to wait hours to see a doctor at the emergency room? Ever had ridiculous medical bills to pay? Ever get fed up with how emergency rooms are run? If you are ever in need of medical care that is not life-threatening, there is another option for you besides the emergency room. Urgent care clinics provide quality medical treatment without the annoyances and frustrations that come with a visit to the ER.
Urgent care centers are generally cheaper, quicker, and easier to go through than ERs. Nearly 95% of the 9,000 or so walk in medical clinics have at least one doctor on staff. Urgent care clinics provide nearly all of the same services ERs do (with the exception, perhaps, or trauma care, in which case you are much better off going to the ER). They also have much of the same equipment and supplies such as X-ray machines and intravenous fluids. And on top of all that, the waiting times in walk in health clinics are considerably shorter than those of the ER. Roughly 69% of clinics have a waiting period of 20 minutes or less; 28% have a 20-40 minute waiting period; and only 3% have a waiting period longer than 40 minutes. Those times simply cannot be beat in most emergency rooms.
Perhaps the most enticing aspect of urgent care clinics is the cost of care. The average difference in cost between an urgent care visit and an ER visit for the same treatment spans from $228 to $583! For patients with little-to-no health insurance, this is a huge plus — if not a determining factor.
Hopefully, you will never have to go to an ER or urgent care unit. If the time comes, however, consider urgent care units for your (non-lethal) medical needs. Feel free to leave a comment or question below for more information.