You probably see a walk in clinic every few streets where you live. (On Long Island, we call them Docs in a Box). A lot of people are skeptical of urgent care centers and the walk in clinic model because it differentiates from the appointment model we are used to and you can literally just, well…walk in and get treated. It’s almost too convenient, and if it’s that convenient it must be bad, right?
Wrong. Walk in clinics are perfectly reputable places in most cases, servicing over 300 patents per week. There are over 9,000 nationwide and of these 9,000, 95% of them employ physicians around the clock. That’s right — you can walk into one of these places and with an average wait time of less than half an hour, get seen by a certified doctor without an appointment. This sort of fast-access isn’t the only advantage to visiting a walk in clinic for your latest health scare. Most of these clinics are also open either before or after normal business hours, meaning if you’ve got the kind of job that can’t be missed under any circumstances, you can still make time for your health.
Now you’re probably thinking “Wait a minute, quick access to a doctor on demand? Urgent care centers must cost so much money!” Again, you’d be wrong. As it turns out, urgent care is a significantly cheaper alternative to the emergency room for most emergent health issues — the average savings is $300 for identical diagnoses, even if you have insurance cover most of it. Urgent care centers manage this because often they do not have the expensive capital expense of the ancillary equipment such as x-rays, MRI machines, specialty testing and meds etc. that a full service emergency room has. Still, despite this bare bones model, there are still many, many emergencies for which you might want to visit urgent care rather than go through the hassle of finding a primary care physician on the spot or visiting the emergency room….
Try Urgent Care for These Issues First
-You need a flu shot
-You have a really bad cold/bronchitis/something run-of-the-mill but annoying
-A fever over 100 (but under 104)
-An earache
-A UTI or yeast infection
-A stomach bug
-A tick bite
-A topical allergic reaction
-A burn
-Minor lacerations
These are all common ailments brought to walk in clinics on a daily basis. However, there are a few instances where it is probably best to go straight to the ER, as an urgent care center is most likely not equipped to handle you in one go…
Go Directly to the ER for These Issues
-A suspected concussion
-Any memory loss, blurred vision, slurred words
-A broken bone
-Cuts that won’t stop bleeding
-Breathing obstruction
-A fever over 104
We hope this article served to somewhat demystify the Docs in the Box you’ve been skeptical about for so long. And above all, we hope you’ll consider urgent care the next time you get sick or hurt yourself, as a walk in clinic will most likely save you time and money!
