One of the main issues the American healthcare system is currently dealing with is the lack of primary care physicians. One in five respondents in a National Public Radio (PNR) survey from 2016 reported being unable to see their primary care physician due to a shortage of available appointment hours. This problem highlights the necessity for a quick, inexpensive, and practical method of providing medical care to individuals in need in the nation. This is one of the leading causes of the Urgent Care Medicine model’s popularity among Americans, particularly in Fairfield, CT.
The town of Fairfield, CT, has its fair share of health issues. In a report by Well Being in the Nation Network, the percentage of obese adults in Fairfield, CT, was 21% in 2013. The report also showed that 32 out of 100,000 people died from alcohol abuse, drug overdose, and suicide, all associated with mental health issues. The town of Fairfield, CT, has other health issues such as allergies, broken bones, and injuries from accidents, just like any town in the United States. With the seeming difficulty in accessing primary care physicians, urgent care clinics are starting to be a more convenient way for many residents of Fairfield, CT.
This article will discuss what urgent care clinics are and why they are essential.
Urgent care is designed to provide medical care for non-life threatening illnesses or injuries. This type of medical care model is structured conveniently, where the patient will enter the facility, get the medical attention they need, and get back with their lives as soon as they exit the facility.
According to a report released by the Urgent Care Association of America (UCAOA), an astounding 92% of urgent care centers claimed that their wait times were about 30 minutes or less in 2015, which is significantly lesser than the average waiting time of emergency rooms, which is about one and a half hours.
Aside from the significantly shorter waiting time, urgent care clinics are more accessible than other alternatives like emergency rooms. A typical urgent care clinic in Fairfield, CT, like DOCS Urgent Care & Primary Care Fairfield, is open for 12 hours every day of the week. A walk-in appointment with an urgent care clinic is far more convenient than mid-week appointments with any primary care physician.
Urgent care provides a better, more accessible, and more convenient alternative to those requiring urgent medical attention. However, having them at the ready also opens up many more rooms in the ERs, which are notoriously busy and always at total capacity.
It’s generally tricky to know whether you should go to an urgent care clinic in Fairfield, CT, or an emergency room. What if you have a massive cut on your finger? What if it’s bleeding profusely? How about if you’re experiencing difficulty in breathing? It certainly is challenging to be sure, and during the heat of the situation, you are most likely to go to an emergency room and wait for hours before you get admitted.
To make matters easier, here’s an excellent question to ask yourself to help you decide whether you should be admitted to urgent care or an emergency room:
Is my condition life-threatening?
If your answer is yes, you must go to an ER. Cases like blunt force trauma to the head, heart attack, and stab wounds are life-threatening cases and require the facilities of an ER. An emergency room has all the trained staff, equipment, and amenities to handle such cases.
But if you’re not mortally wounded or not in a dangerous situation, the best thing to do is go to an urgent care clinic in Fairfield, CT. The urgent care facilities are designed to handle pressing conditions but not severe enough to endanger your life at the given moment, hence the term urgent.
Now that you understand what urgent care is and when to go to one, it’s time to learn under what specific circumstances you should go to an urgent care. As mentioned, urgent care clinics in Fairfield, CT, are designed to accommodate non-life threatening cases.
Urgent care conditions are characterized by situations that are not considered emergencies yet still require medical care and attention within 24 hours. Some of these conditions include the following:
These are just a few urgent conditions that an urgent care clinic in Fairfield, CT, can adequately care for. However, if your condition is an emergency and requires medical attention ASAP, you should go to an ER.
An urgent care specialized facility is designed to handle general health conditions and urgent medical situations. Such a model makes them highly beneficial to those who require immediate aid but do not necessarily go to an ER and wait for hours. These facilities are also excellent if you’re required to undergo some tests if going to the nearest hospital means traveling for miles or going to the next town.
Below are some of the benefits of urgent care.
Unlike doctors who are only available at specific times of the day, an urgent care clinic in Fairfield, CT, has a more flexible schedule. These establishments have extended hours, are open during weekends, and some urgent cares are available during holiday seasons!
Going to urgent care for non-emergency situations is far better than spending a surprising amount on ERs or even a primary doctor. It also helps that urgent care clinics are meant to handle general health conditions, so you won’t have to pay for specialized facilities like those in an ER.
As mentioned above, urgent care clinics have significantly shorter waiting times than emergency rooms. They typically offer a quicker service than an ER, and you won’t have to wait hours on end before a trained medical professional will be able to help you. Doctor’s offices tend to double book (or even triple book) their patients, so it’s usually much better to go to an urgent care rather than an ER for non-lethal conditions.
Waiting for hours to see your doctor can be stressful at times. However, you won’t have to book an appointment day in advance in urgent care; you can go right in whenever you’re ready.
Contrary to popular belief, urgent care clinics in Fairfield, CT, can also handle medical issues that are more complex than general health problems like asthma or broken bones. For starters, the DOCS Urgent Care & Primary Care Fairfield team offers care management and coordination to those with chronic diseases. In addition, they have specialists who can care for complex health problems, which means you don’t need to visit multiple doctors just to be serviced continuously.
Urgent care is a medical service model garnering more attention in the United States. Because of its convenience and speed, many people in non-life threatening situations can quickly get their conditions treated without waiting hours or hours in an ER. You can think of urgent care as the middle ground between minute clinics and emergency rooms – where you can get your non-emergency medical situation well taken care of at an affordable price.
During this surge in COVID-19 cases, our primary focus is meeting the high demand for tests, and we are seeing higher than usual wait times. This means we are unable to answer most phone calls. Please know that our teams are working very hard during this time to care for as many patients as safely as possible. Please click the button below for answers to common questions. We appreciate your understanding.
