Certain medical events don’t require a visit to the emergency room but should still be treated as soon as possible; these are conditions like fractures, bleeding, burns, and strange pains in the body that need a closer look.
For these instances, an urgent care facility is your go-to choice. Let’s walk through the eight things that make all the difference in your urgent care experience and overall results.
1. Locally Oriented
Location is the number one priority when dealing with urgent medical needs. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, for instance, type in “urgent care Philadelphia” to bring up local results. Ideally, you can reach the facility by car in a matter of minutes.
As a reminder, be sure to familiarize yourself with the location if you’ve never visited it in person. That way, you won’t be confused or disoriented if you do need to navigate to the clinic under pressure.
2. Full Service
Searching for “urgent care Philadelphia” is a good start, but your next step is to ensure that the facility can handle a full range of medical demands. In other words, a nearby clinic won’t do much good if they don’t meet a high standard of service.
Make sure the clinic has labs, x-rays, and additional services, including telehealth and behavioral health, for any situation you may encounter. You want to be able to count on them no matter what.
3. Proper Facilities
The difference between modern health facilities and outdated clinics is noticeable, even if you aren’t an expert in the field. After you’ve searched for “urgent care Philadelphia” or your local region, take some time to visit the place and survey the facilities.
It’s important that you feel confident that the clinic has all the features and updated equipment you need and that all safety and sanitation protocols are taken seriously. It’s not a bad idea to tour multiple clinics to compare them and choose the best one.
4. Staff Communication
Whether it’s business, relationships, or health, communication is everything and should be part of the core criteria when selecting an urgent care facility. Consider that every second lost could be dangerous to the health of you or your loved onesl; time is truly of the essence when communicating with care providers.
How can you determine if clinic communication is sufficient? Try testing their multiple channels of communication and assessing them independently. This goes for phone calls, emails, texts, telehealth, or however else you can get in contact.
The world’s best clinics will excel in all these domains, ensuring you get the care you need fast, regardless of the channel you use.
5. Trust and Reputation
When finding an urgent care clinic, few things are more important than trust, so keep this top of mind when conducting your search. It’s easy to search “urgent care Philadelphia” or other relevant terms and carry on, but building trust is something you can’t ignore.
The best way to develop trust is to know people at the clinic by interacting with them firsthand. Tour the premises and speak with administrators. Learn how things work and have a plan ahead of time for an urgent care scenario.
It also helps to look at reviews when you search “urgent care Philadelphia” or whichever location you decide; read a range of reviews and get the complete story.
6. Insurance Compatibility
The average urgent care visit is a couple of hundred dollars, but those costs can add up over a few visits, which is just another reason to lock in a health insurance policy that suits your lifestyle and keeps costs more manageable.
Make sure your clinic accepts your insurance so that you can enjoy peace of mind moving forward with no surprises.
7. Family Friendly
Kids are never happy about going to the doctor, but choosing a family-friendly clinic can help ease some of that anxiety for them. Find out if your clinic offers pediatric or on-site child care services to watch your kids when you need personal medical assistance.
Everyone has a different family situation, and an urgent care clinic should accommodate yours no matter what.
8. Avoiding Red Flags
There are red flags to avoid in the urgent care world, so know what they look like before selecting a clinic. “Too-good-to-be-true” pricing is one to watch out for, in addition to lofty claims about miracle results and outcomes.
Choose a reasonably priced clinic that still maintains high yet realistic standards of procedure. Look out for other red flags like inattentive staff or unclean facilities. Don’t hesitate to walk away if your gut instinct says so.
Raise the Bar for Urgent Care
You and your family should have an urgent care option nearby that’s readily available 24/7. This guide will help you pick the right place and enjoy peace of mind for years to come.