According to the most recent emergency room statistics, emergency rooms in the United States treat an estimated 110 million patients each year. At the same time, approximately one-fifth of emergency room patients could be treated faster and more affordably by a walk in doctor at one of their local urgent care facilities.
To say that an urgent care facility is more affordable than a hospital emergency room is actually a gross understatement. This is because the average emergency room visit costs somewhere in the ballpark of $1,500, while the typical urgent care patient can expect a bill around $150. Essentially, individuals who choose to seek medical treatment at a hospital emergency rooms over urgent care providers pay ten times more than necessary.
Since urgent care walk in doctors only treat minor to moderate injuries and illnesses, there is a considerably shorter wait time at urgent cares. Even though urgent cares are not equipped to handle traumatic injuries or severe illnesses, most urgent cares can competently treat bone fractures, sprains, lacerations, the flu, and other types of viruses. Urgent cares can also provide flu shots and physicals.
The typical urgent care staff consists of a mix of physicians, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners, and registered nurse. Therefore, urgent care patients can expect top notch treatment from highly trained, professional staff in a fraction of the wait time in your standard hospital emergency room.
In contrast to hospital emergency rooms, over half of urgent care patients receive treatment within 15 minutes of walking through the door; and approximately 85% of folks who seek emergency medical treatment at a local urgent care will be treated within the hour! When you consider both speed and cost, there is no contest between urgent care centers and hospital emergency rooms.
For people who are unfortunate enough to need emergency treatment for minor to moderate injuries or illnesses, and want faster and cheaper emergency room alternatives, urgent care facilities are the way to go. Plus, if more people chose to utilize their local urgent care centers, they would free up hospital emergency room staff to treat more severe, life-threatening injuries and illnesses. Read this website for more information.