School’s out for summer!
After what seemed like the longest winter ever, you and the kids are all excited about the end of the school year. With plans to visit the neighborhood walk in medical clinic, you are going to start the summer with sports physicals for next year and hope that you will not need any other medical attention. In the past, however, the area urgent care clinics have been your friend in the summer. From sprained ankles at basketball games to poison ivy at summer camp, the last few summers have always involved at least one or two urgent care clinic visits.

One of the reasons that an urgent care clinic is such an advantage during the summer is that these appointments happen quickly, without long waits. A walk in clinic, in fact, does not require an appointment and serves patients on a first come, first served basis. Without the patients who visit a hospital for emergency care, a walk in clinic does not have to operate in the triage format that occurs in an emergency room.

In addition to providing quick care, urgent care settings also provide convenient care. In fact, the latest statistics indicate that 85% of urgent care centers are open seven days a week. This means that you do not have to wait until Monday morning family physician hours to get the care that you need.

Consider some of these other facts and figures about the urgent care settings that are available across the nation and the role that they play in the nation’s health economy:

• Upper respiratory condition was the most common diagnosis in an urgent care center in 2012.
• 80% of urgent care centers provide fracture care.
• 20,000 physicians practice Urgent Care Medicine today, proof that this is an emerging field that seeks to offer convenient care to Americans.
• As many as 3 million patients visit urgent care centers each week, according to the Urgent Care Association of America.

Parent do not start the summer thinking that they will have to visit a walk in health clinic for their child. The fact of the matter is, however, that days off of school often mean days full of adventure, excitement, and risk. Some of these, unfortunately, turn into events that lead to a parent looking for a quick, reliable, and convenient health care option. When that is the case, an urgent care setting may be the best solution.