All throughout the United States, comprehensive medical care can now be found at the typical urgent care center. After all, urgent care clinics have swelled in numbers immensely since they first originated back in the year of 2000. In the 20 years that have transpired since, thousands upon thousands of urgent care locations have been erected all throughout the United States. Nowadays, these urgent care centers staff more than 20,000 doctors and serve more than three million people throughout the course of a single week.
Urgent care treatment is hugely diverse and can encompass a wide variety of different medical concerns. For instance, walk in clinics can treat ankle sprains of all different levels of severity. With 25,000 or more ankle sprain cases occurring throughout the course of a single day, this is certainly an important thing. In some cases, a fracture might even be suspected in the aftermath of spraining one’s ankle. Fortunately, up to 80% of all walk in urgent care centers provide both diagnosis and treatment for fractures. This minor fracture treatments as provided by multicare urgent care centers is a great way to save both time and money – at least in comparison to the costs that would be accrued in the typical emergency room.
Care for illnesses is certainly also provided at the average walk-in medical care clinic. After all, while the most common procedure provided at urgent care centers is wound repair, the most frequently treated illness is the respiratory virus or infection. A walk-in medical care clinic will also see many cases of colds, of which there are up to one billion with each passing year. And the flu, depending on the severity of the season in question, has been known to infect up to 50% of the total population – and certainly no less than 5%. Fortunately, most colds will go away on their own, passing in, on average, about ten days but typically no more than 14. The flu, however, can require more care. If it is caught within 72 hours of symptoms developing, an anti-viral treatment can lessen symptoms and even reduce the duration of the illness. Of course, various other infections are also common. UTIs alone are diagnosed more than eight billion times over the course of a single year here in the United States alone, many of these diagnoses taking place in a convenient medical care clinic.
Preventative care is also offered by walk-in clinics. After all, it’s not just flu treatment that makes a difference, but flu prevention. At the majority of all walk-in medical clinic locations, flu shots will be readily available. And while no flu shot will ever be 100%, the impact of the flu is greatly lessened when flu shots are heavily distributed. In fact, the flu season of 2017 into 2018 saw a reduction in flu cases by nearly half among adults and by more than 60% in minors, at least in comparison to what flu levels likely would have been had the flu shot not been present and accessible. This convenient health care is something that has kept many people safe during the flu season, especially those who fall into categories of higher risk for serious complications from the flu, such as the very young as well as the very old and people who are living with compromised or weakened immune systems.
At the end of the day, urgent care centers are simply just hugely convenient as well. After all, more than 80% of them (around 85%< to be just a bit more specific) are open each and every day of the week. And in more than half of all urgent care locations, the average wait time is not likely to extend past even a mere 15 minutes. In more than 90% of all urgent care clinics, this wait time certainly won't be longer than half of an hour. Ultimately, this goes to show how beneficial urgent care centers can be in the world as we know it, especially if you are not able to promptly schedule a visit with your primary care doctor - or if you don't have time to do so, as is the case for many.
