It is important to know where to go when you or someone in your family is in need of medical care. In the event of a real emergency, for instance, it is essential to go to hospital emergency room. Wasting time at a less equipped facility, in fact, can cause serious complications. If, however, you have a minor medical condition, a hospital emergency room is not needed. And while many people have a family physician or pediatrician who can help with many situations, an increasing number of people are turning to urgent care settings for minot injuries and illnesses that happen in the evening or on weekends.
From flu shots to strep throat tests, urgent care clinics are often the most logical resource. The fact that these walk in clinics provide affordable and convenient reliable care is the reason that more and more Americans are turing to this health care platform. When was the last time that you needed to find a health care clinic late in the evening or over the weekend? Consider some of these statistics about the walk in health care clinic platform and its growing popularity:
- 85% of urgent care centers are open seven days a week.
- 20,000 physicians currently practice Urgent Care Medicine today.
- 3 million patients visit urgent care centers each week, according to reports from the Urgent Care Association of America.
- 80% of urgent care centers provide fracture care.
- Upper respiratory conditions were the most common diagnosis in an urgent care center in the year 2012.
- Wound repair was the most common procedure in an urgent care center in the year 2012.
Some independent urgent care clinics are actually located within hospitals, even though the hospital itself may be closed off in terms of their departments. Finding the best platform for the care that you need is important to make sure that you are looking for the best options when it comes to care, price, and convenience. In a time when the health care services that so many Americans depend on seem to be in question, it is no wonder that more and more Americans are turning to a health care setting that is both affordable and convenient.