Urgent care clinics are faster and cheaper than going to emergency rooms when suffering from non-life threatening illnesses or injuries. When searching for medical care outside of your regular physician?s office, an urgent care clinic is your best option. Approximately 60 percent of all urgent care facilities have provider wait times of less than 15 minutes, and many clinics now offer online appointment scheduling as well. Urgent care clinics focus on treating patients suffering from acute illnesses and injuries from minor burns, sprains, broken bones, strep throat, ear infections, and sinus infections to name a few. When needed, 70 percent of urgent care clinics can provide intravenous fluids and also have x-ray capability and lab testing which speeds up patient diagnosis as well.
The flexible hours of urgent care clinics make them desirable options for working families with children. The majority of clinics remain open until 7:00 pm or later on weeknights, with two out of five of them remaining open until 9:00 pm or later. Many of these clinics are also open on weekends, which is especially helpful for broken or fractured bones from sporting activities. Because of the hours of these clinics, you can leave work and walk right in for an appointment if you are suffering from a cold or flu symptoms. You don?t have to worry about waiting two or three days for an appointment with your regular doctor. Also, the cost of the appointments are reasonable in comparison to the regular doctor appointments, and a lot of the clinics can fill prescriptions right there during your appointment if needed.
There are urgent care clinics for kids or pediatric urgent care clinics. These clinics will offer board certified pediatricians and pediatric nurses and are qualified to deal with pediatric medical illnesses and injuries.
The medical care provided by urgent care clinics is comparable to that of a regular physician?s office. Unless a patient?s illness or injury is life-threatening, it is not necessary for the patient to be seen in the emergency room but instead can be seen in an urgent care clinic. Outside of a patient having an existing and comfortable relationship with their general doctor, an urgent care clinic is a good choice when needing quick medical care.