Saturday, September 17, 2011

More About Urgent Care

The urgent care movement first started in the US, but has now spread in the health care industry of other countries, such as England, Canada, Australia and some others. Urgent care clinics provide medical help and treatment in a non-emergency situation for patients who need immediate attention, with respect to wounds and injuries from accidents and so on. This kind of treatment is provided in centers on a walk in basis and does not require any prior appointment with the center or the physician. It is usually meant to cater to the needs of injured people who are not serious enough to be admitted to the emergency center, but require immediate attention. They are centers that take care of situations that are urgent but not an emergency.

There are many such centers in the healthcare industry and the physicians who attend these centers are also well qualified for treating patients in an emergency. It is a very convenient way of accessing medical help in a timely fashion, without having to wait long in emergency clinics in a hospital department, where there is a lot of pressure. People are therefore encouraged to use the options of urgent care centers, which are certified by the Urgent Care Association, who have set certain criteria for such establishments.

All urgent care centers accredited by this Association must have specific hours in which they operate and there are certain stipulations with respect to the number of staff and the type of service provided to the incoming patients. It is important that the urgent care center must allow patients to walk in at all times and they should also have physicians who are capable of treating a wide spectrum of injuries and wounds as well as various types of illnesses. Other facilities, such as diagnostic tools and laboratories, with x-ray and other installations are also mandatory, so that the patients have the best possible care at the urgent care centers. Proper physicians and proper medical equipment are a must at these centers.

Urgent care centers are slowly becoming more popular and are becoming fully recognized, as they are very crucial in reducing the pressure in emergency departments of hospitals that are overfull with patients. The physicians such centers must make sure that the patients receive the medicine prescription with the help of point-of-care dispensing of medication. The physicians can dispense the medicines to their patients, but not to others. The medical facilities offered here are comparatively less than that offered in an emergency room of a hospital, but it is more convenient, as you can just walk in and they are present in all places, such as malls and other medical office buildings. It is a convenient and cheaper option for the person who requires immediate but not very serious attention, for treating ailments, sprains, migraines and other injuries.

However, the continuity of the treatment and care provided by a regular physician in a hospital is absent in the case of urgent care centers and hence this is not the place to go for serious or life-threatening emergencies. People should also check up with their insurance coverage regarding whether the treatment is covered in a particular urgent care center, but these are generally covered by most such clinics.

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