There are a lot of myths, lies, and false facts that surround the world of walk in clinics in the United States. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not seek out the truth but instead dive into these lies and myths and believe things that are not at all true. This is a shame because most walk in clinics are great places for people to seek out treatment for their issues.
Over half of all walk in clinics and urgent care centers across the nation are currently owned by other one physician or a group of physicians. Just about 48% of all patients who were not sick enough to be admitted to the hospital sought out treatment at the emergency room center because their physicians’ offices were closed. Not a lot of people want to visit the emergency room and if this is the case they need to trust their local urgent care locations.
Here are all of the facts that surround walk in clinics, urgent care centers, and advanced urgent care centers.
Walk In Clinics Are Not Reliable
There are a lot of people that truly believe walk in clinics are not equipped with the right staff or equipment to properly take patients. However, most urgent centers are equipped with the most recent technological innovations that help them succeed. Understand that just about 40% of all walk in clinics will use electronic prescription ordering systems. This allows them to use computerized systems for viewing lab and imaging results, collecting patient demographics, billing, conditions and procedure coding, and clinical notes.
It is common for most of the urgent care center hours to allow for a center to be open until 7 pm or later on weeknights and two out of fiver walk in clinics are open until 9 pm or later. Keep in mind that over 66% of all walk in clinics are open before 9 am during the week, with a arge number of these clinics being open with this hours on Saturday and Sunday also. Plus, the Urgent Care Association of America conducted a survey which revealed that over half of all patients wait less than fifteen minutes to be treated.
Walk In Clinics Cannot Treat Serious Issues
There are a large number of people that believe that walk in clinics cannot handle serious illnesses and symptoms. However, it is important for everyone to know that almost all walk in clinics are prepared to handle all types of issues from the common cold to a physical injury sustained while playing sports.
Right now, 80% of all urgent care centers will provide some form of fracture care. Furthermore, just about 70% of all urgent care centers can provide fluids for a patient if they need to. Just about one in five urgent care centers will have to deal with alnost 450 patients per week, so they are used to having a high volume of patients coming to their center on a weekly basis. Keep in mind that at most urgent care centers, people will have to wait less than 15 minutes to see a physician which is great timing.
In Conclusion
Every year more and more people in the United States come to a point where they learn that their local urgent care centers and walk in clinics are incredibly reliable places where they can seek treatment for all types of issues. This is important to know because so often people will go and visit an emergency room for an issue that is easily treatable at an urgent care facility. When people visit an emergency room there is a 100% guarantee they will end up paying way more than they should, and this can do serious damage to a bank account. That is why it is so important for people to make sure they are going to the right places for the right type of treatment.