When you think about medical care, most likely, one of the first things that comes into your brain is a doctors clinic or an emergency room at a hospital. You make an appointment to see your doctor if it is not an emergency and if it is an emergency, you go to the emergency room, right? Well, there is another option that you may not have considered before that is quickly gaining popularity: the urgent care express clinic.
Previously, an urgent care express clinic were only for special circumstances or for drug and alcohol treatment. However, over the past 10 years or so, these walk in clinics have evolved to treat a plethora of things across the health field. Whether you need vaccinations before travelling, if you have a sports injury or the flu, these and other health needs can all be treated at an urgent care express clinic. There are actually more urgent care clinics across the United States than emergency rooms. Here are some facts you may not have known about urgent care express clinics:
They are faster- Because there are more urgent clinics around town than emergency rooms, there tends to not be as many patients per clinic so they can be cycled through, faster. Additionally, at an emergency room, if a case comes in that is more life threatening than yours, you will be pushed to the back of the line again. Urgent care express clinics don’t take life threatening emergencies, so there’s no chance that someone else will come in that will take priority over you.
They are cheaper-Your insurance sees an urgent care visit in the same way that it sees a regular doctor’s appointment. This will save you on co-pays and other fees that may incur at an emergency room. If you don’t have insurance or your insurance doesn’t cover very much, an emergency room visit can be extremely expensive, but if your condition is non life threatening, you can visit an urgent care and their prices are much smaller.
They treat almost everything-Urgent care clinics still hold the stigma that they only treat specific ailments but the truth is that as long as the situation is not life or death, then an urgent care can treat it. Rashes, sprains and even break and fractures can all be seen to at the urgent care.
They have better care-Emergency room doctors tend to be more rushed and stressed and under much more pressure than at an urgent care. How many times has an ER doctor given you the worst case scenario and your condition turned out to be much less severe? They are more used to dealing with life threatening cases and don’t want to make the mistake of under diagnosing your problem. Urgent care doctors have the ability to take their time with you and give you better and more personalized care which will usually end up with a more accurate diagnosis and treatment method.
They don’t need appointments-You can visit urgent cares without making a previous appointment. Just walk on in and be seen to. You may end up in the waiting room for 15 or 20 minutes but that’s how long you would wait with an appointment at your doctor’s office anyway. Some urgent care clinics do take appointments if you prefer or there is the option to call ahead. If you call ahead you can find out how long the wait is, put your name in line and then go to the clinic right before you are called so you don’t have to wait in the waiting room at all.
Urgent cares are all about the patient. That’s what of the great things about them. Emergency rooms are more about the condition, doctor’s offices are more about the schedule, but urgent care focuses on the patient and their needs to ensure that everything is seen to properly. You’ll find that when you are sitting in the room with an urgent care doctor, he or she will be very attentive to you and listen to every word you say rather than trying to hurry you up and move on to the next person. It’s a much more comforting environment to be treated in.