There are some terms worth noting about urgent care centers. They are closest urgent care to my location, difference between urgent and emergency. emergency care. emergency room. emergency room Bakersfield, emergency services, family urgent care, food for sick kids. free clinic, urgent care near me, urgent care nearby, and more.
There are some statistics as well. They are:
- 25,000 Americans suffer from an ankle sprain each day.
- 80% urgent care centers provide fracture care.
- Every year, Americans get 1 billion colds.
- The average child catches between six and 10 colds a year.
Urgent care centers are considered the bridge in the medical treatment continuum. They began in the 1980’s and quickly spread across the country, as more and more people began to view them as an alternate option to the emergency room and a more immediate care than the primary care physician.
As the statistics show, they are useful for many reasons and have many advantages compared to the emergency room and the primary care physician. They also take a little bit from both, including the technological equipment of an emergency room with the personalized care from a primary care physician.
The urgent care centers in America see roughly around 3 million people each week, which amounts to a good percentage of the ill in the American population. They are popular, with more and more physicians seeking training in urgent care medicine. They have advantages, including immediate treatment, a walk in basis, and comprehensive treatment.
The issues that arose in the 1980’s are still some that are faced in different areas of the country. If a person became sick in the 1980’s, they were forced to choose between the emergency room, which was costly, or the primary care physician, who did not generally have same day appointments.
And sometimes emergencies or urgent issues would arrive. A bout of influenza would get worse. A baby would start vomiting in the middle of the night. A person might have a fall and get a broken bone or some kind of injury. There would be other issues that would require immediate treatment.
Back then, they’d have no choice: emergency room or primary care physician. Today, in many areas across the country, that has changed. The urgent care center provides a similar level of care to the emergency room, while offering the treatment at a lower cost and with less wait time. It has a more personalized approach while offering same day appointments.
The walk in feature is one of the most important features of the urgent care center. The walk in feature allows patients to walk into an urgent care center without making an appointment and be seen, which is something the primary care physician generally cannot do. In the PCP’s office, appointments are generally next day or later.
In the advent of an urgent issue, it is always possible to go to the emergency room. The patient will find the best treatment there, the best doctors, the best equipment. But the cost to go to the emergency room can run into the thousands if the person doesn’t have insurance. Even with the insurance it is generally in the hundreds.
The cost of the urgent care center can run into the several hundreds without insurance, but generally if the person has insurance, the cost runs less than one hundred dollars. This is a major difference, which makes urgent care centers a viable option compared to the emergency room, especially for serious cases that aren’t life-threatening.
An urgent care center is also generally open seven days per week for longer hours than the primary care physician’s office. An urgent care center is sometimes open till 7pm or even later. There are some urgent care centers that are open 24 hours per day, although that is more the exception than the rule.
An urgent care center is a popular choice, because it offers a high level of treatment for a lower cost than the emergency room and the walk in feature which makes it easier to get treatment than at the primary care physician’s office. It is the bridge in the continuum of care within the medical field and has been growing popular.
An urgent care center is helpful for many.