An urgent care facility is the best place to get medical care for anything that isn’t a life-threatening emergency. Whether you need a flu vaccination, an x-ray, or treatment for a sinus infection, here are five reasons you should go to an urgent care center first:
Urgent Care is More Convenient Than a Doctor’s Office
If you try to arrange an appointment at a doctor’s office, you’ll have to wait for their schedule to be open. This could mean taking your kids out of school or taking time off work for yourself. No one wants to do that for something like a simple flu vaccination. In fact, the CDC reports that half the adult visits to the ER that don’t result in hospital admission happened just because those patient’s doctors’ offices were closed.
Urgent Care is Faster Than the Emergency Room
The emergency room isn’t a great choice, either. Emergency room waits can be really long. Meanwhile, over at medical urgent care, seeing a doctor or other medical provider takes less than 15 minutes for 60% of people who visit. And 80% of all urgent care visitors wait less than an hour.
Urgent Care Has Convenient Hours
More than half of all walk in clinics are open before 9:00 am, and more than 45% are open that early on Saturday. More than 30% are open early even on Sunday. More than 90% of all medical urgent care is available after 7:00pm on weeknights, too.
Urgent Care is a Great Place to See a Doctor
There is a misconception among some people that you can’t actually see a doctor at an urgent care facility. A doctor or group of doctors owns about 50% of all the walk in urgent care facilities in America. And 65% of all urgent care centers have a doctor available at all times they are open. You can also rest assured that the clinic will refer you on if your case is more serious than they are equipped to handle
Urgent Care is More Appropriate Than the Emergency Room
If you need a flu vaccination or someone in your family has an infection or the flu, there is really no need to go to the emergency room. Urgent care centers are faster and cheaper, and 70% of urgent care centers can provide IV fluids while 80% are able to provide care for fractures. Sprains, illnesses, preventative care, routine exams, flu vaccinations: all of these can be taken care of at an urgent care facility.
There are a lot of great reasons to check out your local walk in clinic the next time you or someone in your family needs medical care. The hours are more convenient than those at a doctor’s office, and your visit will be faster and cheaper than heading to the emergency room. Next time you need a flu vaccination, why not try an urgent care facility?