When you experience a physical injury or illness, it is important to have a plan of action. No one wants the stress of finding the nearest medical urgent care center when they are feeling unwell. Here are a few features to look for during your search for the best local urgent care facility near you.
No One Plans When They’ll Get Injured: Check the Operating Hours.
It is a a spectacular inconvenience to have an urgent issue pop up after normal operating hours. It could be a bad cut from slicing up vegetables around dinnertime, or a child’s fever that worsens on a Saturday morning. On average, the vast majority at roughly 90% of medical urgent care centers are open until at least 7:00pm, with 66% opening up before 9:00am. Some reports have even found that about two out of every five centers are open until 9:00pm. About 40% are open on Saturdays as well, but only 30% stay open for Sunday morning catastrophes.
Look at the open hours when deciding on a medical urgent care facility. You may not have a choice depending on the time your accident or ailment occurs, of course. But knowing ahead of time which one will be open can alleviate some stress.
What Do Other People Think About the Facility?
You can find a review on just about every type of business now. Medical urgent care centers are no different. Other people who have been seen at the facility can comment on the wait times, the level of care they received, the ease of finding the location, and of course the overall cleanliness. Reading reviews can help you compare centers with an amount of details that just using the opening hours and physical location simply cannot.
Some reviews need to be read with a critical eye. Never simply look at the rating system, whether that is computed with numbers or stars. Irate people have access to the internet too. For example, many facilities (60%) may have an average wait time of 15 minutes or less.
Can They Heal What Ails You? Double Check the Care They Offer.
An urgent care center is not an emergency room. No location will be able to offer the intensive degree of care that an actual hospital can. With that in mind, different facilities may offer different treatment options. While one center may be able to treat fractures, another center a couple of blocks away may not.
It is to your benefit to check what is offered and where. This information can be found online, or by calling the facility directly. You may want to have a few locations written down to keep your options clear.
In a crisis, success depends on being able to make the best decision quickly. When that is applied to an urgent situation, but not an emergency, it can be extremely helpful to know where the nearest help is located. Take some time today to look up your local urgent care centers. Review your options, and then settle on the best. Keep those phone numbers and addresses in your phone with the facility’s hours. The next time a crisis pops up, you’ll be ready.