When to Find Emergency or Urgent Care

 

Americans young and old need medical care from time to time, and the modern healthcare industry manifests in many different ways. A patient with a life-threatening injury may need emergency care right away, such as at a hospital’s ER (emergency room). Meanwhile, doctors for urgent care can be found at urgent care clinics, and a walk in clinic may not be far away. If a patient or victim needs medical care, a nearby responsible adult can look online to find a nearby clinic, and get the address and hours of operation of that medical facility. A person may search “doctors for urgent care Boston MA” or “emergency room near me San Francisco CA” to find local results. This can save a life, and someone must know how to find doctors for urgent care at any time of day. Some clinics have broad hours of operation, and they can admit patients even at night. What else is there to know about emergency are of finding doctors for urgent care?

What Emergency Care Entails

Sometimes, a patient will need emergency care if their life is in danger, and emergency care can typically be found at a hospital’s ER. Other times, a nearby clinic may be a hybrid that provides both urgent and emergency care for any patient in need. Doctors and physicians will be on hand at emergency care to get a patient stabilized and out of harm’s way, and they will have the right medicine and tools for the job. Why might someone need emergency care like this? Someone who has suffered serious trauma such as bullet or stab wounds, or large broken bones may need emergency care, along with most head or eye injuries. Heavy bleeding or damaged organs, such as if a damaged rib punctured a wound, calls for emergency care as well. Other times, a patient may have severe chest pain or difficulty breathing, and conditions such as those may soon become life-threatening too, such as respiratory arrest. It should be noted, though, that not just any wound or illness necessitates a visit to an emergency care clinic or hospital; in fact, anywhere from 44-65% of all ER episodes could have been handled by doctors for urgent care instead. These patients will get more appropriate care at urgent care clinics, and this will open up room at the ER for patients who truly need it.

Finding Doctors For Urgent Care

If emergency care is for life-threatening and serious medical issues, then urgent care is for everything else below that level. Today, urgent care centers are highly numerous across the United States, and they are typically small clinics that are independent or joined into small local networks. They are staffed by nurse practitioners and physicians, and these medical professionals have the tools and medicine to help any patient who visits. A clinic that is running smoothly can see about three patients per hour, and a patient there may expect a wait time of about 15 minutes. Many of these clinics may accept a number of healthcare insurance policies, but a patient there may want to check the specifics of this.

Some urgent care clinics are not standalone buildings, but rather worked into a larger site such as a retail chain or a hospital. A retail clinic, for example, is one that is built into a larger retailer such as Target or Walgreens, and these retailers are easy and have ample room for guests, making them easy to visit. A shopper may incorporate a visit to these clinics’ pharmacies in their shopping trips, for example. Meanwhile, some clinics are built into hospitals, but it should be noted that such a clinic’s staff and medical services are distinct from those of the hospital at large.

A patient may visit an urgent care clinic for light wounds, such as broken fingers or toes or for shallow cuts (the staff may provide stitches and bandages as needed). Patients may also get treatment for ankle or wrist sprains, and four out of five such clinics can treat bone fractures. What is more, patients at these clinics can get medicine for relief against the common cold, flu, or stomach poisoning, and they may be lotions and ointments for skin rashes.