If you need to see medical professionals for a non-life threatening issue, and urgent care center can be the solution you’re looking for.
Why Choose Urgent Care?
On average, urgent care centers take care of 3 patients every hour, and around 50 in a whole day. Most are equipped to handle most minor injuries and illnesses, such as:
- Minor lacerations that may or may not require stitches.
- Breathing difficulties, including asthma related problems.
- Flu and severe cold symptoms.
- Minor broken bones.
- Sprains.
- Skin irritations, rashes, and allergic reactions.
- Lab testing, blood work, and x-ray.
- Vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration.
- Eye irritation
Additionally, many locations handle a variety of different things, but these are the most commonly found. This information can be especially useful given that flu season is right around the corner. Urgent care doctors are more than sufficient when it comes to dealing with flu symptoms. Though if the afflicted is a young child or infant, depending on the severity, you may wish to seek emergency services; however, for older kids and adults, urgent care is appropriate.
Urgent car can also be beneficial when you can not get to your primary care giver, or they are otherwise further away than the nearest urgent care center. The medical professionals there will be able to treat you just as efficiently and effectively than your primary physician.
Insurance
Furthermore, when it comes to healthcare urgent care centers can even be be covered by your insurance, though you should check to see if the center you’ve chosen is in your network, and how much of a co-pay will be required for services. However, you can rest assured that going to seek treatment at urgent care will cost you much less than a trip to the emergency room.
Wait Times
The waiting times associated with urgent care facilities are also much less than what you will find in most emergency rooms. Many patients are able to be seen within a half hour, depending on how many people are in front of them, and they are often finished within an hour. This is opposed to the ER when patients are attended to in order of severity, so if you’re illness or injury is not life-threatening, expect much longer waiting times over all, than if you’d gone to an urgent care center. In addition, some urgent care centers allow for patients to book appointments online and, while not needed, this can help speed up the process even more once you arrive.
97% of patients who seek medical professionals at an urgent care center can be treated on site, with only 3% needing to be sent to an emergency center. More likely than not your issues can be solved and treated at and urgent care center. The rule of thumb is, if what you are treating is not endangering your life, urgent care can fix you up.
It is good to have a plan, even though you will hopefully never need it, to know just where to go when you are ill or injured. Seeing medical professionals at your nearest urgent care center can have you back on the road to recovery in less time than you think. Take the time to look at the options around your area and see which centers would be right for you. Also keep in mind the hours they are open, and if your insurance will cover the cost of your treatment. Plan ahead now, so that you aren’t left in the dark when the unforeseen does happen.