Urgent care facilities are quickly becoming among the most popular solutions for medical care. Approximately 129,043 people in America are employed by urgent care facilities, and there are more and more facilities opening up throughout the country on a regular basis. In short, urgent care facilities are becoming so popular because of their hours of operation, the speed with which they can take care of their clients, and the number of different services they provide as well.
Only about 29 percent of primary care doctors have after-hours coverage, whereas there are a number of 24 hour urgent care clinics that can see people at any times. Typically, urgent care facilities are meant to treat things like broken bones, gastrointestinal problems, and other minor to moderate issues. Interestingly, there are about 6.8 million bones broken in America every year.
According to a study by the CDC, about half of adult ER patients who were not sick enough to be admitted to the hospital said they sought out health care there because their physicians’ offices were closed. Immediate care centers can see people on a walk-in basis, and are much cheaper than emergency rooms or primary care doctors offices.
Increasingly, urgent care facilities can handle things like rapid STD testing and routine physicals as well. Rapid STD testing is very popular because it is quick, efficient, and can help people relieve a major stressor in their lives. At the end of the day, about three million people visit urgent care centers every week in America, and it can be said that they are the best possible option for medical care. More research here.