If you’re feeling ill or have been injured, you may consider scheduling an appointment with a primary care physician or heading to the emergency room (ER) if it’s particularly serious. However, you have another option – urgent care. In many cases, going to an urgent care clinic is a better option for a number of reasons. The following are a few reasons why you should think about going to our MEDIQ Urgent Care facility instead of an ER or a primary care physician:
1. Appointments are not needed
An urgent care clinic is like an ER in that you do not need to make an appointment in order to see a medical professional. Not only can you come in for emergency medical treatment, but you can visit an urgent care for basic medical treatment as well, whether it’s to see a doctor about an illness or to get a vaccination.
This makes urgent care clinics more convenient than doctor’s offices. With a primary care doctor, you may not be able to come in for a few days. If you’re experiencing uncomfortable symptoms, being able to walk in whenever you want to get treated is a huge advantage.
2. Urgent care clinics have flexible hours
Many primary care physicians have limited hours and are often not open during the weekends. This makes it very difficult for patients who work during the week to seek medical advice or attention. Having to take off of work can be quite costly for many people. Urgent care clinics typically have much more flexible hours. For example, our MEDIQ Urgent Care clinic is open from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM during the week, and from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM during the weekends.
3. Urgent care is often much more affordable
On average, urgent care visits are roughly 80 percent cheaper than ER visits. Not to mention that roughly 84 percent of cases in ERs turn out to not actually be medical emergencies, making the cost an even bigger waste.
4. Insurance isn’t required
You do not need to have health insurance in order to get medical attention at an urgent care clinic. Nor will it cost you an arm and a leg because of a lack of insurance. At MEDIQ Urgent Care, our office visit fee is $140, which covers everything in-house, from checking for illnesses to giving stitches to taking X-rays. Lab work is provided at a reduced rate. Additionally, if you do have insurance, we happen to accept most major health insurance plans and will bill your insurer directly.
As you can see, there are a number of benefits to going to an urgent care clinic instead of an ER or a primary care doctor. Be sure to contact us at MEDIQ Urgent Care today to schedule an appointment or to pre-register so that dropping in without an appointment will be more convenient in the future. You can also visit our MEDIQ Urgent Care clinic at your convenience without scheduling an appointment or pre-registering.
