Urgent care facilities are gaining in popularity all across the nation. This is because these moderately sized medical practices can guarantee a shorter wait time than is found in hospital ERs, and they can provide their services that many people are looking for. In 2010, a study conducted by the Rand corporation found that one fifth of all visits to an ER could be treated just as well at an urgent care facility. This study legitimized the mission of urgent care facilities and proved that they could take on an extra $4.4 billion in medical costs, that would work to save both hospitals and patients money.
What is an urgent care center?
Urgent care centers are a specialized category of medical facility that cater to the needs of walk in patients. These medical aid providers are focused on the delivery of care provided off of an ambulance escort, yet outside of a traditional emergency room’s emergency standards. The smaller services allow for quicker access to necessary care.
Many facilities providing urgent care in various different communities have found that they have filled an important gap in medical service. Traditional medical hospitals treat scheduled appointments and emergency care best. When a medical problem is severe enough to warrant transport, but not severe enough to move a patient into emergency room care, the patient is often left in limbo and waiting for a vacancy. New facilities are giving urgent care in much needed areas, and filling the gap between doctors office and hospital emergency rooms.
Although the niche market that urgent care facilities have cornered is filling that void in medical attentiveness, these medical practices do provide diagnostic services for walk in patients. In fact according to the guidelines put forth by the Urgent Care Association of America, in order to qualify as an urgent care center, each facility must be equipped to serve diagnostic purposes. This means that urgent care facilities must provide phlebotomy, x-ray, and other services. Certain urgent care facilities will even provide urgent dental care.
While these practices can run diagnostic tests, an urgent care facility is not structured to replace a dedicated physician. After all the urgent care facilities are founded on the idea that many people need have a need for urgent health care that is not provided by physicians, or given immediate attention in hospitals.
Whether you, or your loved one need urgent care in a certain specialty or not, urgent care is open to a wide range of patients. Finding the service you need is as simple as seeking your nearest urgent care locations. A urgent care facility can bring patients the treatment they need in the timely manor that is necessary for their well being. For this reason, the best urgent care facilities will offer after hours urgent care.
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