The Case For Urgent Care In The United States

 

Going to an urgent care clinic can be a great way to save money as well as save time, as the vast majority of urgent care clinics are far less expensive than a similar emergency room visit of the same nature. In fact, going to a walk in clinic can often become the only viable medical option for those without health insurance, for who going to a general care practitioner’s office is sometimes out of the question. Urgent care locations provide a viable alternative – one that costs less, has drastically reduced wait times, and is open all days of the week (ideal for the busy working person, as well).

There’s no doubt about it that urgent care centers are growing and becoming more and more popular no matter where you go in the United States. Seeing a total of around three million patients and employee ever more doctors (around twenty thousand at the last and most current estimate) walk in clinics have become a force to be reckoned with and a top choice among patients. One reason for the growth in popularity of urgent care locations is simply that they are more flexible and understanding of the schedules of their patients. The vast majority of such locations – around eighty five percent, to be more exact – are open every single day of the week, and many are open earlier in the morning than a traditional doctor’s office and later into the evening. This can be more than ideal for the person who needs to seek out medical care, but does not feel that they are able to take off work to do so. At an urgent care location, they are able to either go in before work or come to see a doctor after their work hours end, truly making walk in clinics the best of both worlds.

And walk in clinics are able to treat a wider range of medical concerns than most people know about or give them credit for. Common illnesses seen in the typical urgent care location range from the common cold (of which there are more than one billion every single year) to the flu, which is diagnosed in as many as twenty percent of the general population during flu season (depending on the severity of the flu that is striking that year as well as how many strains of the flu are in circulation). Medical treatments for UTIs (short for urinary tract infections) are also possible and probable at at the vast majority of such medical clinics, as urinary tract infections are all too commonly seen, with as many as eight million seen by doctors all throughout the country every single year.

Injuries can also be treated at your typical urgent care center, ranging from minor (with the most common injury treated at such clinics often involving minor wound repair) to major, as in the case of fractures. Though a fractured bone may seem like it is too severe of an injury to be treated in an urgent care location, this is far from the truth, as eighty percent (four out of every five) walk in clinics are able to both diagnose and treat the vast majority of fracture injuries that they see. Minor fracture treatment in an urgent care center is also likely to be far less expensive than the treatment of the same minor fracture in an emergency room setting. The wait time to be seen is also likely to be much less, only fifteen or so minutes on average in more than half of all urgent care centers throughout the country. In an emergency room, for comparison, the average wait time is typically one full hour – or even more, depending on the current volume of the emergency room that you have gone to for medical treatment.

Urgent care centers are hugely important no matter where you go in the United states. They provide wound care and treatment for illnesses ranging from urinary tract infections to respiratory illnesses. Urgent care centers provide accessible medical treatment to those who would otherwise have to go without it, like those without medical insurance and those who are very busy.