The 4 Benefits of Going to Urgent Care Centers

 

Most people have experienced this. It is after five in the afternoon and someone has fallen on the tennis court. It is eleven in the morning on a Saturday and a family member has a high fever. Neither medical problem can wait until the family physician’s office opens but they are not true medical emergencies. Where can you go for family quick care when you need it? There is good news, there are urgent care centers all over the country that can help you.

In the 1980s, emergency room doctors saw a need was out there. They saw more and more people were going to the hospital emergency room to get medical care for things that were not real medical emergencies. A lot of the problems were ones that could not wait. A sprained or broken ankle may not lead to a hospital stay but no one wants to suffer when they do not have to.

They also saw that people were going to the emergency room for less urgent things. The reason was clear, they could not always take off from work to deal with more mundane problems such as rashes and colds. Two of the most common problems that send people to the emergency room are respiratory infections and sprained ankles. They saw a need for family quick care that could be received on the weekends and after hours and without an appointment.

Since then, walk in health clinics have popped up all over the United States. There are a number of reasons to go into one of them when you need family quick care, here are a few:

1. You will be seen much faster. When you go into a hospital emergency room, you can wait hours. There are some good reasons for this. When you are in an emergency room, you are not only seen in the order you arrived. The medical professions there have to see people whose problems are more serious before those that are not as serious. That means you can wait a very long time. Most people are in and out of the urgent care center within an hour.
2. It is a lot less expensive. The medical care you will get in a hospital emergency room is first rate, and there are times when you need to go there for care but it is also the most expensive way to go when it comes to care. In the past few years, most health insurance carriers have recognized this and have started encouraging their members to seek out this kind of care.
3. You can get help for a wide variety of problems. There are a large number of issues that people have when their doctor’s office is closed. Some of the problems that can be handled at an urgent care center are:
   • Dehydration: Many clinics can provide IV rehydration if you have a stomach bug that leaves you dehydrated.
   • Simple fractures, sprains and strains: Most clinics have x-ray machines and can help with these kinds of injuries.
   • Moderate back pain.
   • Basic medical tests: All clinics can handle same day STD testing and other lab tests.
   • Upper respiratory infections: These can be really unpleasant but help can be found at the local medical walk in clinic .
   • Travel medicine needs: If you are planning to travel to certain countries, you may need to get shots or take preventative medicines. You can get those at an urgent care clinic but you should call ahead to make sure you can get that. Most after hours urgent care clinics can do this but it pays to double check.
4. It is a less stressful experience. Going to the emergency room can be a very stressful experience. There are ambulances coming and going. There is a lot happening. When you go to the urgent care center, it is a lot more relaxed and quiet. If you are bringing a child, this is a better option.

There are times when even if you want family quick care, you need to go to an emergency room. The good news is that if you go to an urgent care center, they will evaluate the problem at hand and will send you to the hospital if that is where you really need to go.

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