Why go to your local 24 hour urgent care facility? What can urgent care clinics do, and are the best doctors really available at a walk in medical clinic?
- Go to urgent care for medical help for your back pain. Nearly 70% of Americans struggle with low back pain that is severe enough to affect their day-to-day life. Out of ever 10 people with low back pain, four will try exercise to relieve their symptoms, but 40% don’t go to a doctor for help. Your local urgent care clinic is a great place to find doctors who can help at a reasonable cost. It’s best to do it now, too. A recent study showed that patients who had early physical therapy intervention for low back pain had lower total costs than those who didn’t: $2,736.23 lower, on average.
- Get medical help for your chronic condition at a walk-in clinic. Chronic conditions afflict a lot of us. Estimates are that by 2030 the majority of Baby Boomers–six out of 10–will be struggling to manage some kind of chronic condition. While chronic conditions can be difficult, painful, and inconvenient, they rarely cause an emergency. Waiting time for emergency room care is consistently longer than the average wait time at urgent care locations, so going to a walk in medical clinic is a great way to get the medical help you need in a timely manner.
- Go to a walk in clinic for medical care when you need help fast, but there isn’t a life-threatening emergency. Many urgent care facilities, four out of five, in fact, can provide care for fractures. Sprained ankles, poison ivy exposure, asthma issues: these are all serious issues that require fast medical help. In 2012, the most common diagnosis at America’s urgent care facilities was an upper respiratory issue. Repairing wounds was the most common procedure performed at these clinics.
- Get medical help that is professional and convenient. Urgent care medicine has 20,000 practicing physicians employed at medical clinics all over the country. Most clinics, 85%, are open seven days a week, and the majority offer hours more convenient than doctor’s offices. Wait times are far less than the average emergency room, and costs are lower, too.
The walk in urgent care clinic is a great choice for many medical needs. If you or a loved one is experiencing a life-threatening emergency, the hospital emergency room is where you need to go. For everything else, from dizziness to flu shots, consider urgent care. There’s a reason that three million patients visit America’s walk in clinics every week. The next time you need medical help, go to urgent care and see for yourself all that they can do for you.
