Top 3 facts about urgent care clinics
Have you ever thought that while you are sitting in the hospital emergency room, you might be getting more sick? The hour-long wait in the emergency room makes you regret ever coming there. What if I told you that you can get in, get checked and out under one hour. Yes, it can happen.
With urgent care clinics coming on the frontline of the healthcare industry, convenience has become the most important element. The urgent care clinic requires no appointments. You can walk right in the clinic and get checked by the doctor. Here are the top facts about the urgent care clinics.
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- They are NOT retail clinics
The urgent care clinics are walk-in clinic situated in supermarkets, pharmacies or retail stores. The clinics treat minor illness such as cuts, abrasions, burns and more. The focus of treatment is on the ailments that need immediate care but do not require a visit to the emergency room. While they might not be open 24 hours but the majority of them have long hours. The Walk-in Clinic of NYC stays open 9 am to 7 pm (Mon-Fri) and 9 am to 2 pm (Saturday)
- Reduces the unnecessary ER visits
Not all ailments require the visit to the emergency rooms. Nonetheless, the majority of Americans go to the ER. It is often due to the fact they don’t have a preferred physician or a general doctor. Urgent care clinics were established so that people don’t have to endure the expensive ER visit for ailments as small as cold or a cough.
Even insurance companies are including urgent clinic care visits in their policies. You can even find documents from insurance companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and Cigna that specify when an individual should go to ER and when at an urgent clinic center.
- Prescription of medicines
While urgent care doctors can prescribe the medicines, they cannot prescribe all medicines. The doctors are able to prescribe short-term pain meds, antibiotics, allergy medications, asthma meds, anti-viral meds and medications for stomach conditions.
Many urgent care clinics are near the pharmacy and the medicines can be refilled instantly. However, medications such as narcotics, long-term pain or anti-anxiety medications cannot be prescribed by the urgent care doctors.
Remember, the urgent care clinics are not replacements for the ER or hospitals. Many Americans who use the urgent care clinics have their primary doctor. The clinics are a bridge between the primary doctor and ER. We, at Walk-in Clinic of NYC, deliver urgent care to the residents of NYC and neighboring areas. Along with the urgent care, we do sports, CDL/DOT, and pre-employment physicals.