As the health needs of people across America increase, families are trying to look for a new alternative to solve their healthcare issues. One of the solutions that have been increasing in popularity has been urgent care centers. Here are the reasons why people are choosing urgent care centers over traditional healthcare solutions.

Meeting Demand

Especially during the coronavirus pandemic, demands for hospitals have skyrocketed. The main reasoning behind this is that even if you don’t have the virus, most healthcare services have been packed with people who have gotten COVID. This means that finding a bed or a doctor that can attend to you has become that much more difficult. With urgent care centers, the staff is focused on the patient at hand first. When it comes to minor injuries or illnesses, their goal is to give you exactly what you need to be able to get back out into the world and do what you needed to do that day. Even if it is found that you have something more serious, urgent cares centers do their best to attend to you as soon as possible and you have their full attention once you do see them.

Doctor Benefits

People who are sick aren’t the only ones benefiting from the use of urgent care centers. Doctors have been shifting from working at a traditional hospital to an urgent care center because it gives them the ability to spend more time with their families. Compared to a hospital where you work long shifts, an urgent care has a set schedule that is supplemented by emergency services if necessary. This helps doctors focus more on the work at hand instead of rushing from patient to patient. This should also give you peace of mind in knowing that you are working with a professional who more than likely has experience in a big hospital dealing with different types of injuries.

Saving Money

When you go to a hospital, your worst fear likely isn’t that you won’t get better, but that your bill will be completely unaffordable. This price is so inflated because of things like ambulance rides, taking up a hospital bed, or even the food that is served in a hospital. When you are in a life or death situation, sometimes you have no other choice than to call a hospital. However, the emergency room is not effective for every type of situation. Even if you need treatment for a broken arm or a cut that needs stitches, an urgent care can help with this and they will charge you the price of fixing the issue at hand instead of charging you for services that you don’t actually need.

Faster and Easier

Waiting in an emergency waiting room can sometimes be the hardest thing there is to do, especially if you are waiting for the results for a loved one. At big hospitals, this is common as you may find yourself having to wait overnight for something as simple as being diagnosed. Once you are diagnosed, you could be told that you need to attend another facility for further diagnosis, and at that point, you are wasting time. There are many urgent care centers that offer additional diagnosis options, including some urgent care centers that have x-ray machines onsite. Urgent cares also typically see their patients within 30 minutes of them sitting down, meaning that you get care faster and you’re able to figure out what the problem is sooner rather than later.

According to the Urgent Care Association’s 2017 Benchmarking Report Summary, 90% of all urgent care centers provided wait times of 30 minutes or less for patients to see a doctor. While speed does end up being the main concern for people seeking out a healthcare provider, it isn’t everything. At most urgent care centers, you aren’t working with a doctor that sees dozens of patients a day, you’re working with a doctor who is local to your area and familiar with the members of the community you live in. If you are in the New Jersey area and are in need of an urgent care clinic your community relies on, don’t be afraid to stop in or give us a call.