Urgent care centers were designed around convenience. The biggest problem with primary physician offices and emergency rooms is that they are not at all convenient. Urgent care centers have made significant improvements upon convenience in the medical industry in the following ways.
Convenient walk in ability
Scheduling medical appointments is not always realistic. If you suffer an injury for example, you cannot wait until an appointment time opens up. Even if you head to the local emergency room, you are forced to wait for many hours until receiving medical care. Additionally, most primary physician offices operate on normal business hours. If you have a full time job, as many Americans do, it can be difficult, if not impossible to take time off of work. Urgent care operates on a walk in medical model. You can choose the time that works best for you and simply walk in. Within minutes, you are on your way to receiving quality medical care for a variety of medical conditions.
Convenient billing method
Billing is just as easy, if not easier in the urgent care center. When you visit a primary physician?s office, you have to provide your insurance information at the beginning of the appointment. If the insurance could not be verified by the time your appointment is over, you may be required to pay the full cost of the visit. If your insurance provider covers the visit, they will reimburse you later. This reimbursement process can take many months. When you visit the urgent care center, you are charged based on traditional insurance coverage. If your insurance provider ends up not paying the full amount, you will be sent a bill later. This gives you the ability to work out the payment specifics with your provider, without having to cover it out of pocket up front.
Longer business hours
The traditional business hours of physicians? offices are often extremely inconvenient. In addition to the ability to walk into the local Tacoma urgent care center, they also offer extended business hours. You can wait until you are out of work to receive needed medical care. You no longer have to wait until Monday morning to speak with a physician. Just about 85% of urgent care centers are open seven days a week. Most of them also operate late into the evening, while many physicians? offices close strictly at five.
Convenient directed care
Even a visit to your primary physician for directed medical care, such as an ankle sprain, often requires a full medical checkup. This is especially true if you have not visited your physician in a long period of time. This can extend the visit and can end up costing you more, when you simply wanted care for your specific medical concern. Multicare urgent care centers are more focused on treating the associated symptoms. If you go in for an ankle injury, you will be treated for an ankle injury. Four out of five urgent care centers provide fracture care, making them a great option for ankle twists and sprains. If you visit for a cold, you will be treated and examined for the cold. This is also a common visit, with Americans getting approximately 1 billion colds.
Convenience is extremely important in today?s world. Traditional medical offices, as well as emergency rooms do not meet today?s convenience needs. Urgent care models, however, do. They are more convenient in terms of cost, scheduling, directed medical care, and even location. Consider your local urgent care center when you require convenient and timely medical care.