Are you looking for emergency room care for a non-emergency medical situation? If so, you may want to consider visiting a walk in clinic instead. Since after hours urgent care is available at many of these clinics, and 85% are open 7 days a week, they are a convenient and affordable alternative to traditional hospital emergency room visits.
Currently, there are 20,000 physicians that practice urgent care medicine. The physicians that practice this speciality are considered to be the best doctors available. The Urgent Care Association of America reports that these doctors see an estimated 3 million patients every week.
In addition to providing diagnosis and treatment for upper-respiratory conditions, urgent care clinics address a multitude of other issues, such as injuries. They can assess and treat ankle sprains, fractures, chronic pain, and dizziness.
Low back pain, for example, affects the lives of a large percentage of people in the United States. It is estimated that nearly 70% of the population currently suffers with this issue. While some people will find that exercise assists them with with alleviating pain, others may not be engaged in any type of exercise. Furthermore, it is surprising that at least 40% of the people that suffer with low back pain on a regular basis aren’t seeking the services of a physician or physical therapist.
While 70% of the United States population may experience dizziness at some point in their lives, it is the second most common complaint heard by doctors. For individuals that are 60 or older, however, 65% of these individuals may experience a loss of balance or dizziness on a daily basis. Since there are a variety of underlying issues that may be causing this, it’s important to visit a physician for an assessment.
When someone is experiencing chronic pain, dizziness, or another issue, they can receive expert care at an urgent care center. When a situation isn’t life-threatening, these clinics can provide convenient and affordable medical care, which includes physical therapy and preventative medicine.
Even though many people may think they need to receive emergency room care, it’s possible that their situation doesn’t warrant it. Instead, they can visit an urgent care clinic and if it is determined that they need to be checked into the hospital, an urgent care doctor is qualified to make that assessment and referral.