When you’re sick, the thought of waiting in a line at the emergency room or sitting in a waiting room at your general practitioner’s office is far from ideal. You need treatment and you need it now! The sooner you can get into the doctor’s office, the better off you’ll be. If you’re looking to skip the wait urgent care is the best option. Here are a few reasons to head straight to your nearest convenient care center instead of waiting for an appointment with your doctor or suffering through the lines and delays at a standard emergency room.
It’s Faster
For patients looking to skip the wait urgent care offers far shorter wait times than even the fastest emergency rooms. This is because they only treat mild to moderate health conditions. These include things like abdominal pain, headache, cuts, and illnesses like the flu. In 2016, the most common issues treated by urgent care facilities were upper respiratory infections, acute pharyngitis, acute sinusitis, cough, and acute bronchitis. These conditions require medical treatment that just can’t wait for an opening with your doctor. At an urgent care facility, there are multiple doctors on staff, patients are seen in the order in which they arrive, not by appointment. This makes treatment times far shorter and far more convenient!
It’s Convenient
When you need to see your doctor, you have to wait until they have an available appointment or get squeezed into one of their same-day openings. Unfortunately, those same-day appointments fill within moments of the phone lines opening for the day. And many appointments have to be scheduled weeks or months in advance. Urgent care clinics allow you to come in for treatment when you need it. You don’t have to worry about coordinating schedules with your doctor or making sure you wake up early enough to book a same-day appointment.
They Take Insurance
Health insurance makes paying for medical treatment far more affordable. While everyone knows their doctor accepts insurance, most don’t know that urgent care clinics also work with your insurance company. All you need to do is make sure the clinic is in-network. If it’s not, you’ll still be seen. You just might have to pay a slightly higher copay for any treatment you receive. Ultimately, you’ll save money and still be able to use the health insurance you work so hard to have each year.
For people looking to skip the wait urgent care is the best option. Stop by your closest convenient care facility the next time you’re feeling under the weather. Their doctors will take care of you quickly.
