Three Things You Didn’t Know About Walk In Medical Clinics

 

Why do kids always come down with those borderline medical issues at times when it isn’t feasible to get them into the doc? Every parent knows what we’re talking about. It’s Friday afternoon and you’re looking forward to a weekend of chillaxing after a week of hard work. Unfortunately, your child suddenly spikes a fever and is clearly in pain. As a mom, you learn to recognize the signs of childhood ailments and can make a diagnosis on your own. You know your child has an ear infection, but being a mom doesn’t give you the authority to write the script you know your baby needs to get on the mend. You know they need medical help, but your pediatrician won’t be available for several days — far too long to force your child to stay in pain.


You could take your child to an emergency room doctor emergency room doctor but that comes with drawbacks. The emergency room often involves sitting around for hours and hours, in a waiting room full of other potentially contagious miserable kids. And sometimes it means you’re subject to higher copays due to the hospital fees. The emergency room serves a very important purpose in the medical infrastructure, but it’s not the best place to take your child. What your child needs is to be seen at a walk in medical clinic.


What is a walk in medical clinic, you say? You’ve come to the right place. Here’s the skinny on walk in medical clinics:


Three Things You Didn’t Know About Walk In Medical Clinics

1. Just because they are called “urgent care” clinics doesn’t mean they are only for urgent medical issues.
   Many walk in clinics are called urgent care clinics. By definition, urgent care is intended for medical issues that need to be addressed within 24 hours. Most commonly, the scenarios we’re talking about are ear infections, pink eye, respiratory issues, and the like, where the situation doesn’t warrant a trip to the emergency room, but a prescription is required immediately. However, this isn’t the sole purpose of the urgent care.
   
   
   Urgent care can address most of the medical issues that your regular doctor would treat, but on a walk in basis. If you need blood work done for a diagnosis, or to check the effectiveness of a medical treatment you’re getting, or simply to get a drug screening for your job, these are all non-urgent services that your local urgent care can provide. If you are unsure of whether or not urgent care can provide the medical service you need, just give them a call in advance.




2. Urgent care does not replace your family practitioner though.
   Since an urgent care clinic can provide most of the services you’d go to the doctor for, it might seem like we’re suggesting that you don’t need a doctor at all, right? This is not what we’re saying.
   
   
   Your regular doctor is in the best position to work with you on an ongoing basis to ensure that you get the long-term care you need to achieve the optimum health. In fact, if you go to urgent care with a medical need that requires long-term care, the doctor who treats you will likely address your immediate symptoms, and then advise you to follow-up with your regular doctor.
3. Urgent care also does not replace emergency room.
   While we’re on the subject of what urgent care doesn’t do, they don’t treat medical needs that are life-or-death situations. If the vitality of the patient is in question, the minutes it takes to get them the life-saving care they need is the difference between life or death. Do not waste any time going to urgent care. Take them straight to the emergency room, where they can get the care they need immediately. Medical situations that should always be treated at the emergency room include:
   • Traumatic injury to the spine or head.
   • An injury in which the patient is bleeding profusely.
   • If the patient loses consciousness.
   • The patient is displaying signs of a heart attack (such as chest pains) or stroke (inability to speak or move limbs, being disoriented).
   • The patient is struggling to breath.

   If the patient is experiencing these symptoms, or any that make you feel like the situation could be an emergency, take them straight to ER!

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