The Advantages of Urgent Care vs Primary Care Doctors

Urgent care facilities represent one of the fastest growing segments within the American health care system. Very often, people need immediate care at all hours of the day, and only 24 hour urgent care facilities can provide them with the services they need. Urgent care facilities are perfect for people with minor to moderate injuries and illnesses.

For instance, every year, Americans total onee billion colds. Because urgent care centers have walk in doctors, patients can walk in and be taken care of quickly when they are suffering from a cold. Before urgent care centers, people would have to either go to a hospital emergency room or a primary care doctor, the former of which would cost boatloads of money and the latter requires an appointment.

On that note, a 2010 study by the Rand Corporation found that a fifth of visits to hospital ERs could be treated at urgent care facilities, which would save $4.4 billion a year in health care costs. In addition, some states have urgent care centers with point of care prescription dispensing, which ensures that patients can leave the center complete with their prescription.

Overall, urgent care facilities provide an immeasurable service to the health care industry. Roughly three million people visit an urgent care center in America every year, and more and more urgent care centers are opening up throughout the United States. Some facilities even offer services like physicals, rapid STD testing and xray services, as the industry is quickly expanding.
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