Urgent Care Clinics For Urgent Needs?

Answer 1

An urgent care center is a small center that provides hospital quality care for those without insurance on a walk-in basis. The first urgent care clinic opened in the 1970s and soon grew to about 10,000 centers world wide. These centers are usually opened either by bigger hospitals that see a great need for their patients who do not have insurance or entrepreneurial doctors who want to provide the best care and oversee the processes themselves.

These clinics provide the same basic medical care as a hospital or family practice doctor’s office will. They will then provide a patient with a list of physicians for follow up care. They are not to be substituted for actual doctor visits and are not for life-threatening emergencies. They must provide x-ray, phlebotomy, defribulators, oxygen tanks and drug carts for prescription drugs. Since patients who visit urgent care clinics typically do not have insurance, they will be expected to pay full price for any services, including medication, received while in the doctor’s care.

There are certain criteria that these clinics must meet in order to become a certifiable center for urgent care. A center must:

• Have on site at least two exam rooms

• Accept all walk-in patients regardless of age

• Be open seven days a week for at least four or more hours per day

• Train their employees on the operation of the x-ray, defribulators, phlebotomy labs, oxygen tanks, safety precautions and documentation procedures

• Have access to a working phone line to dial 911 in case of a serious emergency

• Provide the state with the proper licensure for not only the building itself, but for their employees at every level of the caregiver hierarchy.

Because this is a very basic facility, it is not to be substituted for a doctor’s visit. One must still check in with their family doctor if it is suggested by a licensed practical nurse or the doctor.