Five Reasons to Ditch the ER and Go for 24 Hr Urgent Care

It has been three days now, and your flu symptoms have not gone away. Maybe your ankle still hurts from that basketball game. Maybe a rash has started to take over your arms.

You could go to an emergency room to sit and wait for hours because your condition is not life-threatening. You could choose that unsavory option, or you could consider immediate medical care from a 24 hr urgent care center. Interested? Good. Here are five reasons why urgent care facilities can help your ailment.

1. Urgent by design

The point of a 24 hr urgent care center is to provide quality treatment to individuals whose conditions are not life-threatening. Doctors and nurses provide a preliminary checkup to help identify your issue, then send you on your way with your treatment. Afterward, you are typically recommended to follow up with your primary care physician.

2. Employment numbers

Nearly 130,000 people in the United States currently work for urgent care centers. This means it is a burgeoning industry, and that makes plenty of sense given the services provided by these 24 hr urgent care centers. Remember these walk-in medical centers the next time you need but do not need the hassle of the ER.

3. Booming business

Because of their popularity, 24 hr urgent care centers rake in about $14 billion worth of revenue every year in the United States. That is a lot of satisfied patients! When the time comes to find urgent care centers close to you, scope out their reviews online before you visit.

4. Steady flow

About three million patients visit a 24 hr urgent care facility each week in the U.S. This is because plenty of urgent care centers now offer services like X-rays as well as prescription pickup before you leave. That means less time in pain and more time in recovery.

5. Saving time and resources

A 2010 study found that about one in every five ER patients could have been treated at a 24 hr urgent care facility. If more patients chose urgent care over the ER, the medical industry could save an estimated $4.4 billion in yearly healthcare costs. Plus, a large number of these centers are open 24 hours a day, which means they are your best bet when you cannot reach your own physician in time. See this reference for more: doctorsexpresswa.com