The modern medical industry in the United States is a broad and robust one, and a patient in need can get any level of care that they require, such as visiting urgent care centers to being hauled to the emergency room, and everything in between. Children or babies who are hurt or ill can be taken to a pediatrician, and a children’s urgent care center will have such doctors on staff (regular urgent care centers are intended for adult patients). When it is time for emergency room visits for a serious illness or injury, imaging and labs may be involved too, but most walk in clinics will probably not require imaging and labs work. In fact, an urgent care center visit is typically inexpensive and quick, and so urgent care is often known as “convenient care.” How might this work? And what about imaging and labs in the hospital?
Emergency Care Done Right
A patient who is in dire condition should be taken to an emergency clinic right way, or perhaps the nearest hospital for the emergency room. Imaging and labs at the hospital, not to mention surgery and advanced medicine there, can help save a life, and the doctors there will have the right training to stabilize a patient. Not all emergency care centers are open at all hours of the day, but many are, and someone looking for them (for a victim’s benefit) can look up something such as “24 hour emergency clinics near me” online to find them. Doing this will show the name and address of local 24-hour emergency sites.
Why might a patient need emergency care? A broken arm or broken leg will call for this level of care, and the same is true of a head injury or damage to the eyeballs. Stab wounds and bullet wounds are much the same, and they may be bleeding heavily. Chest pain and difficulty breathing will also require emergency medical attention, as such conditions may turn life-threatening at any moment, if they are not so already. A recent stroke or heart attack call for emergency care as well. And what about abdominal pain? Most cases of abdominal pain are harmless, but if the pain is sudden, severe, and/or long lasting, finding emergency care is best, since the pain’s underlying cause might be serious. Internal bleeding or even cancer might be the cause, for example.
Getting Urgent Care
If emergency care is for life threatening illnesses and injuries, then the urgent care industry can take care of most other medical cases. After all, an emergency room is not a catch-all medical site; patients with minor medical issues are urged to visit walk in clinics instead, which is much cheaper and saves room at the ER for patients who truly need it. Fortunately, today’s urgent care industry is enormous and still growing, and over 2,800 urgent care clinics can be found across the United States today. Typically, these clinics are small and independent, and staffed with nurse practitioners and physicians who can handle non life-threatening medical cases.
Such clinics are often found in strip malls for convenience, and some others can be built into large retailers. Those are known as retail clinics. Yet other clinics are found inside hospitals, and take note that they provide distinct care and staff, not to be confused with the hospital’s own. A pediatric urgent care center, as mentioned earlier, will be staffed with pediatricians who understand the anatomy and common health issues of children, toddlers, and babies, and parents should take their young ones to these clinics in particular for minor medical issues.
A patient can visit an urgent care center (often under their own power) to get medicinal relief from the common cold and flu during influenza season, and they can also visit the pharmacy on site to get a prescription drug refill with ease. Four in five walk in clinics offer services for bone fractures, and nearly all of them can treat ankle and wrist sprains. Nurses on staff can provide stitches and bandages for shallow cuts and wounds, and they can also provide lotion and ointment for skin rashes and sunburn. Upper respiratory issues are another common reason why Americans visit these urgent care centers.
