Urgent care centers actually represent one of the fastest-growing segments within the American health care system. In short, urgent care centers are more convenient, cheaper, and provide high quality medical treatment to all those who choose to enter urgent care buildings looking for medical treatment. Interestingly, according to a study conducted by the Center for Disease Control, almost half of all ER patients who were not sick enough to be admitted to the hospital said they only went to the ER because their physicians’ offices were closed.
One of the best things about urgent care facilities is that there are 24 hr urgent care facilities. Sickness, like crime, doesn’t sleep or take days off. Conversely, only about 29 percent of primary care doctors have after-hours coverage. Plus, urgent care costs are generally a fraction of the costs of emergency room visits. When you need immediate care, you can simply walk into an urgent care center and be treated in 60 minutes or less.
In the United States alone, there are about 6,800 urgent care centers, and most of them are located within freestanding buildings. Urgent care centers also provide about 129,043 jobs in the United States. All in all, because of 24 hr urgent care and the other benefits of going to an urgent care center, the industry is booming. The next time you need mild to moderate medical care, you should try out an urgent care facility and see how much better it is than going to the ER or a primary care doctor’s office. Research more like this.