In the United States, healthcare has often been described as not very accessible, if accessible at all. For people without insurance, the emergency room is often the only place that they can go to seek treatment. However, the emergency room is not ideal for medical care for a number of reasons, from long wait times to prohibitive costs. While the emergency room can be a good place to go in the event of an actual medical emergency, it otherwise be considered ineffective in treating everyday medical complaints and maladies. However, urgent care centers can provide a viable alternative to those who cannot seek out other more traditional forms of healthcare, be it due to a lack of insurance or simply the inability to take off of work to schedule a doctors appointment. Urgent care for kids can also be a viable alternative to a pediatrician, particularly in cases of minor illnesses, which children are often plagued with. Urgent care for kids can also be the ideal course of treatment for a minor to moderate injury as well.
A medical walk in clinic is often open considerably more frequently than a traditional office, as surveys have shown that over 80% of all urgent care centers in the United States are open every day of the week. A growing number of doctors practice out of urgent care as well – around 20,000 in the United States – and over half of all urgent care centers have a physician on staff at all times. Urgent care (and urgent care for kids) is growing more and more popular among people as well, with around 3 million people visiting an urgent care clinic every single week.
Urgent care – including urgent care for kids – can treat a wider variety of injuries and illnesses than people might expect. For instance, around 80% of all urgent care centers are able to diagnose and treat fractures. They can also treat more common injuries, such as an ankle sprain, of which 25,000 are sustained every single day. In terms of illnesses, urgent care centers most commonly diagnose upper respiratory illnesses, but they can also diagnose and treat the flu as well as the common cold and other illnesses, like UTIs, which are also very common and often seen.
No matter what you go to the urgent care center for, it’s likely that you’ll be seen by a highly rated doctor who can provide high quality care for a fraction of the price and wait time that you’d find in an emergency room. For those without health insurance or with jobs that prohibit them from taking time off to see a doctor, urgent care – and urgent care for kids – can be the perfect solution.
