With a reputation as a “doc in a box,” urgent care centers don’t always get the respect that they deserve from members of the healthcare community. For patients, however, urgent care centers offer several advantages over traditional emergency departments. There’s a growing trend in the modern American health services industry to provide fast, cost-effective healthcare to consumers in an effort to mitigate skyrocketing costs nationwide. Urgent care centers fit the bill, but you may have some misconceptions about these places. Below, we discuss five common myths about urgent care facilities and the truth behind the rumors.
Myth #1: I won’t see a “real doctor” at a walk-in clinic.
Not only do urgent care centers staff licensed doctors, but nearly a third of them are
owned and operated by hospitals. It’s true that you might not see a “real doctor” when you first check in. This is because you’ll likely meet with a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant who can diagnose and treat your condition. If your problem requires more specialized or intensive care, then you’ll see the on-call doctor. Despite their reputation for providing sub-standard treatments, urgent care places offer a wide range of options delivered by trained medical professionals.
Individual states don’t always require urgent care centers to maintain the same strict licensing requirements that your doctor’s office has to uphold, but you can be sure that the doctors and medical personnel whom you encounter will be licensed to practice according to state guidelines. There’s nothing fake about the kind of care that you’ll receive when you visit a walk-in clinic.
Myth #2: Urgent care centers aren’t equipped to handle my needs.
You might think that urgent care practices can only treat minor issues such as sore throats or small cuts. In reality, one thing that differentiates urgent care facilities from retail clinics is their ability to treat non-life-threatening emergencies. Individual clinics will vary in the amount of equipment that they manage on site, but your local urgent care place will most likely have at least one X-ray machine and an EKG machine to run basic and crucial diagnostic testing. If you sprain your ankle, then the urgent care staff can run a scan to check on the condition of the bone. While they can’t treat bones that break the surface, urgent care centers are able to treat minor breaks and sprains.
In addition to diagnostic equipment, urgent care centers also stock necessary resources for dealing with trauma conditions. Depending on the severity of a cut, for instance, most urgent care practices can deal with lacerations. If it’s too deep, then they’ll send you to the emergency room. Barring life-threatening emergencies like heart attacks and strokes, urgent care centers can be your first line of defense against a crisis.
Myth #3: I’ll wait just as long at a clinic as I would at the hospital.
Walking into an urgent care center can feel like an exercise in futility as you look around at a crowded room full of sick people. Fortunately, that waiting room will empty much more quickly than it would at the emergency department. Urgent care centers are staffed with physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners who can treat patients and streamline the experience for consumers. Their business model depends on offering quick and cost-effective care.
You’re likely to spend about 20 minutes in the waiting room when you visit an urgent care place. At the ER, you might spend two hours for the same problem. Most patients get checked in, treated and discharged within an hour at a walk-in clinic. Best of all, you don’t need an appointment.
Myth #4: Urgent care places are just in it for the money.
It’s true that the urgent care trend has caught the eye of big businesses and private investment firms across the country. The New York Times
reported in 2014 that “investors have sunk $2.3 billion into urgent care clinics” since 2008. By providing low-cost care to more patients, urgent care centers offer a lucrative investment opportunity for owners, physicians and investors. It’s a win-win-win scenario that often makes people question the real motives behind these clinics.
Contrary to what you might assume by looking at the numbers, urgent care centers aren’t just in it for the money. These places fulfill a real need for consumers to find low-cost alternatives to traditional emergency care. In some cases, people might prefer to visit a walk-in clinic over a family doctor simply due to cost and time. The New York Times article pointed out that a trip to the ER for bronchitis cost about $814 in 2012 while that same trip to an urgent care place ran around $122. Cost plays a huge role in the way that consumers manage their healthcare, and urgent care facilities address this issue.
Myth #5: I’ll be turned away if I don’t have insurance.
One of the great things about emergency rooms is that they have to treat everyone who walks in the door because they’re legally required to do so. This isn’t the case at urgent care centers, but it’s unlikely that you’ll be turned away simply due to a lack of insurance. In fact, not having insurance isn’t automatic grounds for refusal at a walk-in clinic. It just means you’ll have to pay in cash. Fortunately, walk-in clinics offer
low-cost treatment options for those without insurance and those with insurance plans that have high deductibles. Urgent care practices set their own fee schedules, but a standard office visit will cost around $150. When you need medical care fast, urgent care centers are the way to go.
