With the holiday season upon us, many local businesses will be operating under special holiday hours. This includes your primary medical provider. It is important to get your physical and any prescription requests in before the unique holiday hours begin. If you do find that you require medical care over the holiday break, make sure you know where to go for medical treatment. Fortunately, there are likely many urgent care locations in your area. These urgent care locations can offer you the following medical advantages.
Extended hours of business
Most urgent care locations are open for extended hours into the evening and over the weekend. Many will also have longer hours around the holidays, with some urgent care centers open on the holidays. Approximately 85% of urgent care clinics are open seven days a week. You no longer have to worry about running a fever in the middle of the night or suffering an ankle sprain after business hours. Locate your local urgent care locations ahead of time and take note of their open hours.
Shorter wait times
Visiting the local emergency center of your nearest hospital often seems very daunting. Emergency departments are known for extremely long wait times. When you are feeling ill or experiencing pain from an injury, the last thing you want to do is spend the night in a waiting room. Urgent care locations, however, tend to have much shorter of wait times. Multicare urgent care wait times vary depending on the location, but most are less than an hour. You can walk in, receive medical consultation, and be out, within minutes.
More affordable medical care
Another downside to emergency departments is the cost. You wait for hours, speak with a physician for a couple of seconds, and then receive a large bill in the mail a couple of weeks later. Urgent care centers are more in line with primary physician medical care pricing. The medical care that you receive is affordable and you are likely to only pay a minimal copay, depending on your insurance. Choosing an urgent care location over an emergency room can end up saving you thousands.
Experienced and specialized medical care
Urgent care centers are qualified to handle the same medical conditions you see your primary provider for. Many are also qualified to see some of the conditions you might go to the local emergency department for. The most common diagnosis in an urgent care center was an upper respiratory condition, and the most common procedure was wound repair in 2012. Many urgent care center locations have diagnostic imaging, qualified medical care professionals, and the same medical skills you would receive anywhere else.
A more convenient location
Once people find a primary care provider they enjoy, they tend to stick with them for many years. This could result in long drives to see your preferred physician. Sometimes, even emergency rooms are a far distance from your house. Urgent care centers, however, tend to be conveniently placed for the easiest of access. The next time you are driving through your city, take note of where the urgent care centers are located. There might be more than you originally noticed. They also tend to be located nearby places you visit anyway, such as retail stores, banks, and near food places.
An estimated 3 million patient?s visit urgent care centers each week, according to the Urgent Care Association of America. Keep the option of urgent care in mind this holiday season. Many medical offices have shortened business hours to celebrate the holiday season. If you require medical care, you will need another option.
