Did you know the third week of October has been annually regarded as National Health Education Week since the mid-90s? This week is dedicated to celebrating the role of health education in the public sphere and bringing awareness to major public healthcare issues that still need to be addressed.
To join in on the fun and do our part in celebration and education, we thought it’d be appropriate to engage our friends and followers in a little Urgent Care 101. This short lesson’s central purpose is to establish the value of urgent care as well as distinguish urgent care and its practices from those of an emergency room.
Most of the time when you experience some form of illness, injury, or medical anomaly your primary instinct is to Google symptoms, read WebMD, then perhaps panic and rush straight to the emergency room. However, 9 times out of 10 you could have saved time and
money by heading to vybe urgent care instead.
Services Offered by Urgent Care
Urgent care centers provide treatment for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries – this includes wound care and closures (stitches, sutures, staples, etc.), X-rays, on-site lab tests (bloodwork, testing for UTI, STDs, pregnancy, mononucleosis, strep throat, influenza and more), vaccinations and physical exams.
Feeling under the weather? High fever and chills? Go to urgent care.
Have a weird bug or bump that’s making your foot swell up? Urgent care.
Cut your hand open while cooking dinner? Urgent care.
Took an antibiotic and broke out in hives? Urgent care.
Step on a rusty nail? Urgent care.
The emergency room is for just that: emergencies
If a situation is not deadly serious, urgent care is often the best bet.
When to go to the Emergency Room
Deciding whether something is serious enough to require taking a trip to the emergency room can be tricky. Keeping everything we’ve taught you already in mind, ask yourself these questions when considering a trip to the emergency room:
Am I experiencing chest tightness or difficulty breathing?
Am I bleeding heavily and/or losing consciousness?
Could this injury become life-threatening if I do not receive immediate care?
If the answer to any of the above is ‘Yes’ the situation warrants a trip to the emergency room and perhaps even a call to 911. If you can confidently say ‘No’ to all of the above but are experiencing a medical dilemma, head to your nearest urgent care center immediately for assistance.
Costs and Wait Time
Comparing the expenses and wait times of urgent care centers and hospital emergency rooms is difficult, as each location will be a little different. However, going to urgent care will always be a cheaper option than visiting the hospital or taking an ambulance ride — which is why it is important to be knowledgeable about when it is and isn’t necessary to make a trip to the emergency room. Bonus Fact: Many urgent care centers – including vybe – also accept payment in the form of cash or credit card if you do not have health insurance coverage.
Urgent care has urgent in its name for a reason, you will receive care and attention promptly when arriving at an urgent care facility. Emergency waiting rooms can have wait times exceeding 3 HOURS on an exceptionally busy evening. Save yourself the time, money and stress: If you don’t need to make a visit to the ER, don’t. Head to urgent care instead.
If you find yourself experiencing a non-life-threatening medical emergency and reside in the Philadelphia region, make a trip to one of our four vybe urgent care locations (Center City, Roxborough, Port Richmond or South Philly) locations for immediate medical assistance. Our urgent care centers are open seven days a week 8:00am to 8:00pm Monday to Friday and 8:00am to 5:00pm Saturday and Sunday.
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