Whenever you’re faced with a medical emergency, you have two options. You can either visit an emergency room or urgent care facility. The obvious choice for most patients is an emergency room.
Even so, the emergency room has several downfalls that can put your health at risk. For instance, they’re always swamped and chaotic, which translates to poor patient care. What’s more, if you need specialized care, you may not get it as quickly as possible.
On the contrary, urgent care centers offer numerous benefits over emergency rooms for non-life-threatening conditions. From convenient hours to shorter wait times, urgent care centers provide an efficient, cost-effective medical solution.
So next time you face a health problem, consider visiting a local urgent care instead of an emergency room.
Comparing Urgent Care and Emergency Room Care: What You Need to Know
Generally, urgent care provides an alternative when your regular physician is not in the office, like during evenings or weekends. Urgent care may also come in handy when you cannot schedule a timely appointment.
On the other hand, the emergency room provides medical support for more serious issues that may be termed life-threatening.
Cost
The cost of treatment in an urgent care facility is a fraction of a hospital emergency room. Hospitals charge exorbitant fees in an emergency room due to associated overheads and variable costs.
Emergency rooms require several pieces of equipment that are expensive to buy and maintain. They also need enough medical personnel to operate a 24/7 schedule successfully. The operation and human capital demands explain why a minor emergency room procedure can cost as high as $1,000.
On the contrary, urgent care facilities are affordable because the facility’s costs are equitably apportioned.
A Shorter Wait Time
If you go to an emergency care facility, you can wait for several hours in the queue. On the contrary, an urgent care facility attends walk-ins in less than an hour.
Generally, urgent care facilities have set hours and predetermined medical conditions that they handle. As a result, they have shorter wait times than emergency care facilities.
Wide Range of Services
An urgent care clinic has highly qualified, experienced physicians who can diagnose and treat several conditions.
Here’s a list of conditions treatable under urgent care clinic:
- Skin conditions
- Back, shoulder, hip, or muscle pain
- Bronchitis
- Cuts and minor burns
- Diarrhea
- Earache
- Sprains, fractures, and joint pain
- Respiratory infection
- Urinary tract infections
- Vomiting
- Eye Injuries
- Fever
- Broken bones
On the contrary, emergency care caters to limited conditions, including head injuries, seizures, uncontrolled bleeding, severe headaches, pneumonia, and shortness of breath.
Try Newport Urgent Care & Occupational Medicine
Failure to get urgent medical care has severe consequences for specific illnesses. For instance, a patient suffering from a chronic disease like diabetes or asthma may worsen if not treated promptly.
Fortunately, an urgent care center can give you the treatment and care your condition deserves.
At Newport Urgent Care & Occupational Medicine, we understand the need for immediate care, which is why our center has board-certified and highly experienced physicians.
Contact us online or call us at 949-752-6300 to book an appointment.
