The lab services appointment was at 10:00 am on Tuesday. To get to this point, however, you had two previous appointments. The first appointment was with you family doctor who then referred you to a bone specialist. The bone specialist, in turn, scheduled you for an appointment with lab services to get an x-ray. Three appointment. Three days.
You hate to admit it, but your husband may have been right. The day when you seriously rolled your ankle while gardening you probably would have been better off to just go into the urgent care clinic that is a few blocks from your home. Your husband insisted, in fact, that had you gone into the urgent clinic they may have been able to take a quick x-ray before the swelling even started. They would have been able to give you both advice and care at a far more affordable price.
Whether you are looking for an x-ray, a flu shot, or a strep throat test, using a health care clinic often allows you to make more affordable care in a convenient setting that does not require an appointment. Obviously, when you are in an emergency situation it is important to go to a hospital ER room, but there are many other times in life where a health care clinic is the obvious choice. Without having to call in weeks in advance for an appointment, for instance, the lab services provided by an urgent care clinic can help you get the health answers you need both quickly and affordable.
There was a time when the only place to get the health care answers you need was through a family pediatrician or physician. Today, however, as the health care platform in American continues to expand and shift, it is increasingly important to consider other available options.
Health Clinics Provide a Wide Range of Care Options for a Wide Ranges of Patients
The nature of illnesses is that they often occur at inconvenient times: the middle of the night, late Sunday afternoons, when you are on vacation. When you have a health need at an unexpected time or in an unfamiliar spot, though, you do not need to rely on the very expensive hospital emergency room. Instead, you can find the knowledgable health care that you need at an affordable and convenient clinic.
Consider some of these facts and figures about the urgent health care clinics in the country and the wide ranges of services they offer, including lab services, x-rays, fracture care, and other health conditions:
- Instead of waiting a week or more to get the health check that you need, it might make sense to walk into a clinic and the get the care you need when it fits into your schedule.
- Nearly 85% of urgent care centers in American are open seven days a week.
- Entire schedules are available online, but many urgent care centers have extended evening and weekend hours and some are even open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Estimates indicate that 80% of urgent care centers provide fracture care.
- Details reported by the Urgent Care Centers of America indicate that an estimated 3 million patients visit urgent care centers every week.
- Americans get approximately 1 billion colds every year. And while the majority of these colds are easily treated at home, some symptoms benefit from the care you can get at an urgent care center.
- Dizziness is a condition that will affect nearly 70% of the nation’s population at sometime in their lives. In fact, it is the second most common complaint heard in doctor’s offices.
- One condition that lands many people in urgent care settings in the summer is dehydration. In fact, our bodies are about 60% to 78% water, and that water is essential for regulating body temperature. One of the best ways to prevent heat stress is to stay hydrated, especially during strenuous activities.
- Clinics that accept walk ins allow you to get the care you need without a wait.
- The majority of clinics accept insurance.
- One study by Millman shows that 44% to 65% of ER episodes could be treated in urgent care clinics.
- Research indicates that 25,000 Americans suffer from an ankle sprain every day.