Getting the proper medical attention you need when faced with an emergency should be nothing short of urgent, affordable and through. This is why medical urgent care facilities have become the preferred route to take when people are in need of immediate medical care.
It is estimated that three million people visit a convenient care center in the United States every week, creating 14 billion dollars annually in revenue. Not every injury or illness is appropriate for urgent care locations, but there are plenty which become treated at the emergency room unnecessarily.
The Rand corporation conducted a study in 2010. It found that nearly one in five visits to emergency rooms could have been treated at convenient care facilities. If people were aware of what sorts of conditions urgent care in their area were able to treat, 4.4 billion dollars could have been saved in annual health care costs.
What sorts of services can convenient care centers provide? Well, they concentrate on the evaluation and treatment of acute conditions. More frequently, however, convenient care locations are beginning to provide X rays, routine physicals and prescribing and filling medications.
Urgent care has come a long way since its inception to today. Each year they seem to come closer to being on par with hospital care. Convenient care centers have even been known to host fellowship programs in the last few years.
The first fellowship training program in urgent care medicine took place in 2006 and was sponsored by the Urgent Care Association of America. If you should be met with an acute medical emergency and want affordable, quick, proficient service, then a convenient care center is the place for you.