Urgent care centers and emergency departments both offer medical treatment. However, urgent care centers tend to be non-threatening problems where as emergency departments are for serious accidents. And in some cases, a patient seeking an urgent care center might actually need the emergency department. In fact, 3 percent of all patients get sent to emergency departments, according to a study conducted by Becker’s Hospital Review.
Don’t let that scare you into thinking you might be sent off on some goose chase just to find medical treatment. Emergency rooms are equipped for effective treatment that would have been better suited for urgent care centers. In fact, 44 percent to 65 percent of patients walking into emergency rooms for treatment, could have been just as easily treated at the nearest urgent care center.
The fiscal year of 2015, the fiscal year pertains to taxes, saw urgent care centers reporting 12,000 patients seeking medical treatment, on average, of that fiscal year. This equates to at least three patients seeking medical treatment per hour, which then equals out to 32 patients every single day. In other words, patients seeking medical treatment had at least 20 minutes of a doctor’s time. This almost lines up perfectly with the Urgent Care Association of America’s 2016 Benchmarking Report, stating that 92 percent of urgent care centers were able to push for a patient turn over rate, how long patients waited, of about 30 minutes or less during the fiscal year of 2015.
The Urgent Association of America’s 2016 Benchmarking Report discovered urgent care centers in 2015 were most notably hit by acute upper respiratory infection, acute sinusitis, cough, acute bronchitis and acute pharyngitis. Your upper respiratory system includes the areas of your nose, throat, pharynx, larynx, and bronchi. If you have had the common cold, then you have had an upper respiratory infection, or alternatively by its acronym: URI. Acute sinusitis, or alternatively known as rhinosinusitis, is when the membrane lining your nose and sinuses becomes inflamed, restricting the release of fluids, like mucus, from leaving your sinuses and nose. Acute pharyngitis, alternatively known as a sore throat, can be cause by a viral infection or bacterial infection. Like acute sinusitis, the back of your throat becomes inflamed making ingesting food uncomfortable and in many cases, very painful. Coughing is just that, a cough. When mucus is stuck in your lungs, your body naturally reacts by coughing; it is an attempt by your body to release the mucus from your lungs. In rare cases, coughing can cause damage to your ribs. Coughing is a common symptom of acute bronchitis. If you experience any of these issues, it would be best to seek medical treatment at your nearest urgent care locations or emergency room.