Urgent care, Walgreens clinic, and emergency care all offer medical services. However, it is essential for you to know the difference between what these three facilities provide. All the amenities have been made with the consumer in mind. Therefore, it is crucial to understand that visits to the emergency room should only be limited to life-threatening situations. It is much more convenient to visit an urgent care center or a Walgreen clinic in case of a none life-threatening medical issue.
Urgent Care
Urgent care is among the walk-in clinics that are focused on providing ambulatory care for the traditional emergency rooms. They also come with an added advantage of accepting a wide range of insurance plans.
Most of the urgent care facilities have enhanced equipment such as x-rays, labs, and CAT scans to mention but a few. Doctors and nurses offer the necessary medical expertise to ensure every patient is well taken care of before leaving the facility. The facilities are open seven days a week and usually run till late at night. However, some centers are open from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm. They do not require an appointment before visiting the facility. They offer numerous services ranging from vaccinations, blood tests, suture wounds and setting of broken bones. You are guaranteed to see a doctor anytime you visit these facilities with an injury or illness.
It is clear that most of the services offered in urgent care centers are non-life threatening this, as a result, relives some strain on the local emergency rooms. The urgent care facilities fill the gap between Walgreens clinics and the emergency room since the average time is close to fifteen minutes. One is required to pay for the services offered at the time which usually ranges from thirty-five to fifty-five dollars when one has a copy of the insurance. The cost goes to as high as one hundred and fifty dollars per person in case you do not have insurance.
Walgreens Clinic
These are health care providers placed close to or in pharmacies and Walgreens. The facilities often aim to be affordable to all as they were first meant to serve the underinsured and uninsured. They employ physician assistants thus reducing the cost of hiring a physician. This is the reason why they focus on less advanced medical issues, unlike urgent care centers. Most of the standard services they offer include treatment of minor cuts, skin conditions, flu and cold symptoms among other small ailments. They prescribe medication that is likely to be in their pharmacies. The expected waiting time is lesser as compared to urgent care clinics and emergency care units. Most of the facilities open from around 8:00 am to 8:00 pm or coinciding with the respective retail stores around them.
Do not go into these facilities in case of a severe medical issue as they are not well equipped to handle medical emergencies. These clinics often have numerous limitations as only one medical provider is working in the clinic. The facility cannot handle the treatment of extensive injuries that may involve x-rays more so complex illnesses that do not require simple prescriptions. It is clear that the quality of service in these services is not very comprehensive as the patient may not get to know if their condition is likely to develop into a complex medical issue or not. However, one published research indicates that one gets excellent care as though delivered by a physician when it comes to a sore throat, earache and urinary tract infection.
Emergency Care
Many emergency rooms operate twenty-four hours a day with most its focus placed on life-threatening injuries or conditions. The waiting time is long especially if your state is not fatal since they are required by the law to accept every patient that walks into their facility irrespective of their ability to pay.
The services provided are often excellent as the emergency care team can handle anything since they have all the right training and equipment at hand. Quality of service in an ER is usually higher as the ERs are meant to treat real medical emergencies. Consider a visit to the ER in case of broken bones, chest pains, head injuries, severe shortness of breath, continuous bleeding and allergic reactions to food. Visiting an urgent care or Walgreens clinic is often cheaper than attending the emergency care unit.
In conclusion, urgent care, Walgreen clinic, and emergency care all offer solutions to your ailments. Thus, it is crucial to understand where and when each of the respective facility should be visited. Visit ERs in the event of life-threatening conditions. Visit Walgreens clinics in the event of minor medical issues that need over the counter prescriptions. Last but not least consider urgent care services when you do not have life-threatening conditions. For more information visit us at our website https://frontlineer.com/.
