Category: Walk in clinic denver

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Walk in Clinics can Be Good Alternatives to ER Visits

After hours urgent care

Fewer doctors going into primary care combined with millions more people getting health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act has led to a shortage of doctors to provide basic care to people — everything from vaccinations to routine appointments. According to data, the U.S. is likely to be short more than 50,000 primary care doctors in less than a decade unless things change. In the short term, that gap has been filled by urgent care facilities.

The shortage of primary care doctors is only one of the forces driving the increase in the number of walk in health clinic locations. Both the cost and wait times at emergency rooms are leading more people to seek an alternative when they need emergent care. Waits in ERs have grown from 45 minutes to nearly an hour on average, while the average cost of a visit has risen to above $1,300. Because of those costs, many insurance companies have started to put limits on emergency room care. Many plans now charge extra fees for using the emergency room, especially if you have a mild illness or injury and are not admitted.

Though many people who go to the ER for minor issues do so because they have no health insurance, others do so because there is no alternative. That’s where an emergency walk in clinic can fill a gap. Nearly all such facilities stay open later than 5 p.m., which is the traditional time most doctor’s offices close, and many are open on the weekends. Those hours provide a valuable alternative to someone needing a health clinic for children.

The ACA also has played a role in the increase in emergent care facilities. The law has given many millions of people health insurance, and they are looking for opportunities to take advantage. Without enough primary care physicians around to fill the need, a medical walk in clinic is a good alternative. Such facilities can act as a health clinic for children, providing physicals, vaccinations and other services. They also can provide the same services to adults, along with other things such as STD testing, cancer screenings and the like.

Overall, an urgent care facility can be a good alternative to visiting the ER as well as way to see a primary care physician when going to the doctor’s office isn’t an option.

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Urgent Care Locations to Meet Every Need

Local urgent care

It’s late, and you toddler is awake with a fever and what you suspect is an ear infection, and her crying is keeping the entire household up. You don’t really want to take her to the emergency room because you know you’ll have to sit there for hours before you will be seen. Not a fun prospect late in the evening with a crying toddler! you could easily be there until the wee hours of the morning. Not only that, but the emergency room is simply far too expensive for a situation that you know isn’t life or death. Your child is in pain, and should probably be seen by a doctor, and the rest of the household would like to get some sleep, but you can’t justify the exorbitant expense of taking her to the emergency room. Your regular clinic is closed so what can you as a parent do?

Urgent care centers are efficient, competent, and easy to find. More than half of urgent care locations have a waiting time of less than fifteen minutes. This time is reduced even further if the patient is a child. or if the patient comes in with chest pain, the wait time is eliminated and he or she is seen immediately. Nearly three quarters of urgent care locations have an in-house physician at all times. Urgent care centers provide needed medical care after hours when the patient’s regular clinic is closed. Most urgent care locations are open prior to 9am, and stay open at least until 7pm, many until 9pm or later, with the more advanced urgent care centers also opening on Saturdays and Sundays.

The majority of urgent cases involve the treatment of sinus infections, ear infections, testing for strep throat, and provide x-rays, and four out of five local urgent care centers have the facility to treat a fracture or similar injury. Though they need prompt treatment, none of these cases are life threatening, so the wait time at an emergency room could be hours. According to a recent survey by The Urgent Care Association of America, 57% of patients were seen at urgent care locations within 15 minutes of arrival, and the majority of patients were seen, treated, and discharged within 60 minutes.

Of course you would like to see your own doctor, but in this case you decide that your child cannot wait to be seen when the clinic opens in the morning, so you grab your phone and look up “urgent care locations,” and “urgent care for kids,” and lo, and behold! You find one ten minutes away. So you hop in the car with your unhappy child, find easy parking at the medical facility, and go in. Once inside, the care you receive is stellar. The doctor is not just “on call,” but present at the facility, and you are rapidly ushered into the examining room. After a quick but thorough examination, confirming what you already knew: that your child has an ear infection, you are issued a prescription for an antibiotic and given compassionate advice regarding managing her pain. You were in and out within thirty minutes, including your wait time. Driving home with your child now asleep in her car seat, you reflect on your visit. Of course you will follow up with your own pediatrician, but your visit to this urgent care location was quick, relatively inexpensive, and the medical staff were all very compassionate and well trained. The in-house physician was highly competent, and was able to quickly diagnose the issue. You arrive home, put your daughter to bed, and retire yourself, confident that she received the correct treatment in a timely and affordable fashion.