Urgent care centers have been around for quite some time now, and can be found throughout the United States. First begun back in the year of 2000, there are now more than 7,000 various urgent care locations spread throughout the country. At these urgent care centers, up to 20,000 primary care doctors are employed and more than three million people are treated over the course of the year. In the years that are ahead of us, these numbers are only likely to continue growing and growing.
Much of the population goes to urgent care centers on a regular basis – and many have said that they were very happy with the quality of care that they received. In fact, more than one full quarter of all people here in the United States have visited at least one urgent care centers, with many people visiting such medical clinics on a much more frequent basis. Of these people, up to three quarters of them were happy with their overall care – and more than 20% of people felt that going to an urgent care center was much more convenient than seeking out another form of medical care.
In many ways, this is very much the case. For one thing, urgent care centers have very short wait times. In up to 90% of all urgent care locations throughout the country, the average wait time is only just a mere 30 minutes. And still in up to 60% of such walk in clinics, the wait time is only about 15 minutes on average. In the typical emergency room, for comparison, the average wait time will extend for up to an hour, if not even longer than that.
In addition to this, the overall quality of care that doctors and medical professionals at these urgent care centers can provide is very high and even, in many ways, comparable to emergency room care. In fact, up to 80% of all such walk in clinics can now both diagnose and treat fractures, and nearly three quarters of such urgent care locations are able to provide at least one form of IV fluids. The data even shows that only a scant 3% or so of all urgent care cases end up needing to be transferred to the local ER. Conversely, as many as 65% of all ER cases could have easily and thoroughly been treated at a walk in clinic, a course of action that would have likely saved the patients in question a great deal of time and money alike, two valuable commodities for the average person.
And urgent care centers can provide a great deal of other types of care as well. Minor wound repair is also common, and many an urgent care location can even place stitches, provided that the wound isn’t too complex. In addition to this, sprained ankles can be evaluated. As up to 25,000 sprained ankles will occur over the course of a single day here in the United States alone, this is hugely important and provides an easy and accessible place to go for someone who isn’t yet sure just how serious their injury really is.
For many people, urgent care centers throughout the United States are a great place to receive preventative care as well. Preventative care can come in many shapes and sizes, but often is found in the form of the yearly flu shot. Getting a flu shot will not only reduce your chances of getting the flu in the first place, but will reduce the severity of your symptoms should you still contract it at some point in time (as no flu shot has been developed to be 100% effective). Without the flu shot, far more people would be dying of the flu – or at least suffering far more serious consequences from it.
At the end of the day, there is no underestimating the importance of urgent care centers and other such walk in clinics here in the United States. For many people, the access to healthcare that such places provide is so very critical.