The healthcare system in the United States is a bit of a heavy issue to tackle. There have been major changes in the recent years, but there is still a lot to be done, and very little agreement on any level about how that change needs to come about. Meanwhile, people continue to get sick or injured or keep searching for ways to handle chronic conditions or developing illnesses. Sometimes a visit to a family medicine office will do the trick, other times emergency services are necessary. But it is not a bad idea to have access to the best urgent care in your area for when neither of those are feasible options.
Lining up the best urgent care ahead of time
Checking out emergency medical services or finding out which is the best urgent care center in your area does not always seem like a pressing matter when everyone in your household is healthy and feeling fine. But if you at least ensure that you have the contact information and some basic knowledge about the best urgent care in your area, then if some unfortunate case does befall you or someone in your family, you will be glad that you were prepared ahead of time.
What urgent medical needs might land you in the ER or urgent care center?
Everyone has a different scale or way to determine when medical help is necessary. Some people would rather endure the torment of feeling sicker than a dog and suffering through it until they feel better on their own than visit the doctor’s office. Some people have creative ways for dealing with, or ignoring injuries. But for the most part, when someone is suffering some sort of emergency, it becomes apparent when there needs to be professional medical intervention. Broken bones and excessive bleeding from lacerations or wounds are obvious ones. Extremely high or long lasting fevers are also pretty clear indicators. But there are other times that a trip to the urgent care center might be necessary.
Where to go when you need medical attention
From itchy eyes indicating an allergic reaction to vomiting, dizziness, or dehydration, or situations even worse, sometimes you need to visit a doctor unexpectedly, and during the hours that your regular doctor’s office is closed. Urgent care is an accessible and often more affordable option. Many urgent care facilities also have the capacity to treat some cases that people might head to the emergency room for. The average cost for a visit to the emergency room for something that could be treated at an urgent care is just over $2,000, while that same treatment averages to about $226 in an urgent care center. Each year sees about 110 million emergency room visits, but if those could be spread out to urgent care centers and family doctor offices, much more money could be saved in the long run.
The growing need for health professionals
As the government and politicians squabble and inch towards or away from change or progress in the healthcare system, people continue to search for proper access to it. And what’s more, the population continues to grow, so the need for good healthcare continues to grow as well. But the demand is not only based on quantity. With the ease of access to unhealthy foods and substances, let alone the gradual departure from active and healthy lifestyles as technology becomes more advanced and more interesting, the overall health of the population is not in great standing. It has been estimated by the Association of American Medical Colleges that in a few short years, we as a society will be needing 90,000 more physicians than we will have access to, and that number will jump as high as a 130,000 physician deficit just five years later.
Everyone deserves to be healthy. And everyone deserves to have proper access to quality healthcare. Do your part by being aware and informed, and hopefully soon the national healthcare crisis will start to improve.
