The prevalence of the walk-in urgent care center has grown quite tremendously over the course of recent years. As a matter of fact, the walk-in urgent care center can be found in just about every community, at least in the United States. Currently, there are more than 7,000 such walk-in urgent care locations spread all throughout the country, up from just over 6,000 back in the year of 2015.
More and more people are visiting these walk-in urgent care centers than ever before as well. As of recently collected data, more than one quarter of the entire population of this country alone has visited a walk-in urgent care center at least once over the course of the year. In addition to this, up to 20,000 doctors are currently working at such medical clinics in the United States. In the years that are to come, the number of doctors working in walk-in urgent care clinics and the number of patients who visit them is only likely to continue to increase. But why exactly have walk-in urgent care centers become so very common and popular among the general population?
For one thing, they provide efficient care that is hugely time effective and efficient, something that many people hold up quite highly in terms of overall importance. In the vast majority of walk-in urgent care locations – more than 90% of them, as of current data – the average wait time will not even exceed a mere half of an hour. In addition to this, more than half of all walk-in urgent care centers boast average wait times that are even as low as a mere 15 minutes before the patient in question is able to see a doctor. It is not uncommon for a patient who visits a walk-in urgent care center to be in, seen, and sent on their way all within the span of just one single hour.
This makes urgent care treatment far preferable to emergency care in the average emergency room. When you go to the emergency room, you’ll likely wait for at least an hour, if not even more than that – especially if you are not presenting with an urgent medical concern. If the hospital is experiencing a particularly busy period, it could actually be hours before you are seen and treated. For no one is this is a particularly pleasant experience to say the very least.
And data gathered in recent years actually shows that the average walk-in urgent care clinic can actually treat nearly as much as the average emergency room location. With up to 65% of all emergency room cases able to instead be treated at the typical walk-in urgent care location, only around 3% of all patients seen by urgent care doctors must end up being transferred to a hospital nearby. After all, the average walk-in urgent care centers is likely able to treat a wider array of illnesses and injuries than the average person realizes.
For one thing, the majority of all urgent care locations – up to 80% of them, as a matter of fact – are not only able to accurately diagnose fractures, but to treat most of them as well. Ankle sprains, of which up to 25,000 will occur over the course of just one single day, are also commonly seen. If you have injured yourself in some way that is not life threatening, going to a walk-in urgent care center can be an ideal way to get looked at – without the excessive wait times and monumental cost of the average emergency room stay, something that will be beneficial, and quite hugely so, to just about all people who are seeking out medical care.
At the end of the day, there are a number of options when it comes to getting comprehensive and adequate medical treatment. The next time you are in need of medical attention, consider your local walk-in urgent care center. Such medical clinics can provide fast and efficient care at a fraction of the cost of your nearest emergency room. Therefore, the walk-in urgent care center has helped to make getting medical attention more accessible than it has ever been before.
