Access 24 Hour Urgent Care When You Need it Most

The growth of urgent care facilities in the U.S. began in the 1970s, and has grown rapidly over the years globally. There are now almost 9,000 convenient care centers across the country, and that number is only getting larger. With the growth in popularity, you are likely to have plenty of urgent care locations near you.

Convenient care centers are growing in popularity because they are just that, convenient. Medical urgent care works based on walk in patients because they are open outside regular doctors office hours. Other benefits of convenient care are that you can get the treatment you need at only a fraction of the wait your would have in an emergency room. Urgent Care 24 hours helps reduce emergency room crowding, allowing for the more life threatening problems to be treated.

The Urgent Care Association of America established the Certified Urgent Care Center designation for urgent care centers in the spring of 2009. With a doctor and other medical staff always available, and state of the art equipment, you can have just about any non life threatening illness or injury treated. Most centers now even have x ray machines and blood labs for testing.

Another perk of visiting your local convenient care is that you will not be paying that hefty emergency room copay. Urgent care centers usually accept all major insurances, and you will only pay your regular doctor visit copay. A study conducted by the Rand Corporation in 2010 found that around 20 percent of visits to hospital ERs could be treated at urgent care centers. This could potentially save 4.4 billion dollars each year in health care costs.

Before you let those weekend flu symptoms send you to an emergency room, find an urgent care in your neighborhood. Call ahead to make sure they have the hours that you need, and that they accept your insurance. With a short wait, and top of the line medical care, you will be on the road to recovery in no time. Read more here.