It isn’t something that you want to think about but accidents can always happen. Ranging from small to serious, it’s important to receive fast and attentive medical care. Treatment at an urgent care facility is continuing to grow in terms of popularity. Here are three reasons to strongly consider visiting an urgent care for a medical concern.

1. Quick Service – One big advantage of visiting an urgent care facility is because you won’t be waiting a long time. Emergency rooms have been known for long wait times. When you want to receive fast medical treatment by a staff of trained professionals urgent care is a great option. Recent statistics show that about 60% of all urgent care centers in existence have an average wait time of fewer than 15 minutes. Many urgent care centers will have physicians on site that can move from room to room within the facility.
2. Convenient Hours of Operation – We all know that sudden ailments can happen anytime. When your regular physician is out of the office, visiting an urgent care facility is your next best option. It is common for people to visit an urgent care location when their family doctor is away on vacation or is ill. Over 66% of urgent care centers in existence are open before 9:00 am on weekdays, while 45.7% open early on Saturday and 31.1% do so on Sunday.
3. Great for the Uninsured – Families who can’t afford insurance or aren’t offered a plan at their place of work benefit greatly from an urgent care facility. These locations do not require that a patient has insurance. Families with children will love the friendly and professional staff who know how to make children feel welcome.

In summary, many patients enjoy the fast and caring service they receive at their local urgent care location. Convenient hours of operation make it easy to get the treatment you deserve. In addition, urgent care facilities allow for uninsured individuals to be treated. Recent research done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 48% of all adults who went to the ER weren’t ill enough for admission. The adults who were not allowed admission into ER visited the hospital because their doctor’s office was closed. If you find that your doctor is not available, it is a wise decision to be treated quickly at an urgent care facility.

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It happens to the best of us — that nagging cold you can’t quite get over, a cut that is a bit too big for a Band-Aid, or some other medical issue that isn’t quite enough to merit a trip to the emergency room, but is too big an issue for your doctor’s office to handle. Most of us have to make an appointment to see our primary care provider, and there are some problems that need to be seen as quickly as possible. For that matter, many of us don’t want to sit in our doctor’s office, spending half the day waiting to be seen. Waiting is a problem at the emergency room, too. Unless your problem is a high priority emergency, you’ll probably have to wait to be seen, and be presented with a huge bill when you’re done. This has many people considering urgent care facilities — but what is urgent care in the first place? What makes it different from the emergency room or the doctor’s office, and do those differences equal a shift in the level of care provided? Below, we’ll answer the question of “what is urgent care?” as well as debunk some of the preconceived notions surrounding urgent care services. Urgent care isn’t something you should use as a last resort — in many cases, it should be your first option.

What Is Urgent Care?

So, what is urgent care really? In its simplest form, urgent care facilities provide medical care given by professionals in a manner as quick, effective, and cheap as possible. Some services given by urgent care centers are free of charge, depending on the facility and the care provided. Urgent care facilities often employ the same doctors who work at doctor’s offices and hospitals locally — in fact, 50% of urgent care centers are owned by a physician or group of physicians. Urgent care centers, as we’ll discuss below, provide a variety of different services. While they won’t be able to treat high trauma emergencies at the same level as the emergency room, they are able to treat many problems that are too urgent or problematic for doctor’s offices. A great advantage of urgent care is the timeliness of the care too — about 60% of all urgent care facilities give patients a wait time of 15 minutes or less to see a mid-level care provider, 65% have at least one physician on-site at all times. Of course, if your emergency is too severe for an urgent care center, they’ll refer you to a hospital — but often, urgent care centers are located near or even connected to emergency rooms.

What Kind Of Care Do Urgent Care Centers Provide?

Say you find yourself or someone you love with what you suspect is a fracture — can you visit an urgent care center for this issue? The answer is yes, in many cases. An estimated 80% of urgent care centers provide fracture care. While it’s true that some fractures require an emergency room visit, some are fairly simple to treat and can be handled at an urgent care center. What about when you’re dehydrated and need fluids? Luckily, seven out of 10 urgent care centers provide intravenous fluids. Urgent care centers can also run certain tests when necessary, including STI tests, and provide stitches when necessary. Often, you can have vaccinations done at an urgent care center, and dealing with a respiratory infection or the like shouldn’t be an issue at urgent care centers.

Can I Get A Prescription At An Urgent Care Center?

While this varies from place to place, many urgent care centers can provide prescriptions. It’s believed that about 40% of urgent care centers use electronic prescription ordering systems — and even more use computer systems for viewing lab results and images, billing, and much more. Even if they don’t use electronic prescription ordering services, many facilities don’t find prescriptions to be a problem. Just be honest about your symptoms, and your care provider will try to help find a solution. An urgent care center really isn’t that different from what you’d find at your doctor’s office!

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