When you are seeking family medicine and occupational health services, were you aware that there are facilities that combine both urgent and emergency room care? In addition to providing skillful, convenient, and affordable care, these hybrid medical facilities also have less wait time.
When you need treatments and services, such as with an injury or illness, you may only wait 15 minutes or less to see a doctor or mid-level provider at an urgent care facility. Approximately 60% of these centers have a wait time of less than 15 minutes. Furthermore, 65% of these centers will always have an on-site physician.
According to the American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine, urgent care physicians tend to care for an average of 4.5 patients every hour. This does depend, however, on the severity of the patient’s condition.
Another benefit of urgent care clinics is that they tend to have an average of seven exam and treatment rooms. Furthermore, according to 2014 figures, approximately 97% of these facilities treated patients every day of the week. These and other centers, approximately 99%, were open for a minimum of four hours a day.
Many patients could be treated in an urgent care clinic rather than an emergency room, according to a private study by Millman. This study reported that 44%-to-65% of the patients that went to an emergency room, could have gone to an urgent care clinic instead.
A Truven Health Analytics’ report stated that over 70% of individuals with consumer-sponsored insurance coverage tend visit emergency departments for non-emergency conditions. In addition, many of the reasons for these emergency department visits could be preventable with outpatient care.
Emergency room visits cost more than visits to an urgent care center. On average, going to the hospital may cost $2,039, while being treated in an urgent care facility might only cost $226 for the same treatment.
Since people in the United States are aware that emergency departments provide 24-hour access, they tend to rely on them heavily. Over the past decade, these visits have increased by 22%.
Currently, there are 20,000 physicians in the Urgent Care Medicine field. This field of medicine is growing rapidly, and is recognized as an important specialty.
When you need family medicine and occupational health services, an urgent care clinic can provide diagnoses, treatment, and any necessary referrals for these and other medical conditions:
- Abdominal pain
- Back pains
- Chest pains
- Fever
- Flu treatment
- Itchy eyes
- Laboratory services
- Lacerations
- Minor burns
- Minor injuries and illnesses
- Pediatric care
- Sore throats
- Urgent medical needs
- Wounds
