Flu Season. Like it or not, it’s here, and as more and more people come down with the flu, doctor’s offices quickly book with sick appointments in addition to the regular appointment caseload. Office waiting rooms are crowded and wait times are increasingly long. For this reason, urgent care centers are quickly becoming the go-to option for family care services. In fact, urgent care facilities are the fast growing component in American healthcare, with approximately 6800 facilities (most in freestanding buildings) spread across the United States. With numbers like these, it’s not hard to find urgent care.
As urgent care centers become more prevalent and accessible, many family care providers, and even insurance companies are working in conjunction with urgent care facilities to ensure that family care services are readily available even when your primary care physician is not. Most urgent care facilities provide evaluation and treatment of acute conditions (think flu or strep throat)for patients of all ages. Many urgent care centers are beginning to offer diagnostic services, x-rays, and even regular physicals.
So what is the best way to use urgent care? You should see your family care physician for routine physicals and non-emergency healthy concerns. You should also contact your primary care physician first when you are sick, so long as it’s a working day during business hours. Urgent care is a great alternative for a sick visit when the primary care physician is booked and you can’t be seen, when it’s after hours, or is the weekend. Many urgent care facilities are even able to dispense prescriptions on site, saving you an extra trip to the pharmacist.
Urgent care facilities can also be a faster and more affordable option than the standard emergency room. Most centers are equipped to handle sprains, strains, cuts, and even minor broken bones. After hours urgent care centers are staffed with physicians who can have patients fixed up and on their way a lot quicker than the ER, which historically fills up fast once doctor’s offices are closed for the day.
With everything urgent care centers can do, it’s easy to see why they are growing so quickly when it comes to family care services.
