subject: When And Why To Seek Urgent Care [print this page] When you're injured or feeling ill you won't always be able to see your regular physician immediately, especially in the same day. So what do you do? Many make the decision to visit the nearest emergency room, spending countless hours in the waiting room to see the doctor and paying a hefty price at the end of the visit.
Rest assured that you have other options with the sudden onset of an illness or injury. In fact, many patients that spend hours waiting in hospital emergency rooms for non-emergency type conditions should actually think about visiting their local urgent care center. Urgent care centers can provide high quality care in less time and at a lower cost than typical emergency rooms.
Urgent Care and Emergency Room-what's the Difference?
If you are injured or ill, you need to determine whether an emergency room or urgent care center is most appropriate for your symptoms. Generally, a visit to the ER would be needed if the situation required immediate medical attention to prevent death or impairment. These conditions are life-threatening and should be cared for immediately.
Urgent care centers on the other hand are most suitable if someone becomes ill or is injured and their condition does not pose an immediate, serious threat to their health or life. An urgent care center can provide expert care for a number of minor emergencies including:
Strains and sprains
Scrapes and lacerations
Fractures
Infections
Eye injuries
Foreign body removals
Minor burns
Contusions
Chemical exposures
Many urgent care centers can also provide a high level of care for a family's general medical needs including:
General illness diagnosis and treatment
Common chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma,
Immunizations
Annual physicals
School physicals
Well-woman exams
Pregnancy tests
Flu shots and quick flu tests
EKGs
Lab tests and blood work
HIV and STD screenings
Visit an urgent care center for faster and more valuable care. There is never a good time to wait for hours to be seen in an emergency room. When you are sick, quality care should be fast and accurate. Don't waste another minute more than you need to being sick.
Why Urgent Care?
If you don't have an emergency on your hands, it generally isn't wise to head to the emergency room for an injury or illness. For one, emergency waits can last up to five hours or more. And secondly, emergency rooms are typically very expensive.
For non-life-threatening conditions, head to your local urgent care center. For a fraction of the cost and half the time (an hour or less wait-time), you can receive the same quality of care you would receive from your regular family physician. Much like a family practice, urgent care centers are often employed by board certified family physicians. From the common cold and physicals to flu shots and immunizations, an urgent care center can provide the same level and quality of care that a family practice can.
