If you become ill or injured after your doctor’s office is closed, you may choose to go to the emergency room rather than wait until your regular doctor is available. When it’s a non-emergency situation, however, you may be inclined to wait for an appointment with a familiar doctor rather than whoever is on-call. Sometimes, however, it may be a difficult decision to make because you or a family member is not doing well.

When you do choose to go to an emergency room, particularly for a non-emergency situation, you may not be aware that there could be a long wait to see a medical professional. Furthermore, it also costs considerably more than visiting your primary care physician or visiting an after hours urgent care facility.

During 2003-to-2009, for example, the average emergency room waiting time rose from 46.5 minutes to 58.1 minutes. While you may not need to wait that long, there is a good chance that you may need to wait even longer to see a physician.

There are a variety of reasons for these long waiting periods. These may range from a backlog due to absent staff or several patients with life-threatening injuries or illnesses. Other reasons may include flu epidemics as well as patients awaiting X-rays and other procedures.

Another reason for long waiting periods at hospital emergency rooms is a shortage of primary care physicians. Current data indicates that by 2025, the United States will need 52,000 additional primary care physicians to meet healthcare needs.

Given the higher costs of emergency room visits, it’s surprising that more individuals don’t choose to go to an emergency walk in clinic instead. According to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, on average, when a person visits the emergency room, they will usually pay approximately $1,318. The average cost of an emergency room visit, however, is $615.

It’s possible, however, that many individuals aren’t aware of the range of professional medical services that can be provided at a neighborhood health clinic. Furthermore, they may also not be aware that there are low cost health clinics available and affordable insurance for family care.

When looking for a health clinic for women, there are a variety of options available. In addition to a health clinic for women, there are also health clinics that specialize in treating children or the entire family.