Urgent care centers are becoming more and more popular for both routine care and urgent care situations. The convenience provided along with the care makes them a go to choice before the emergency room. With more than 20,000 physicians practicing urgent care medicine and more than three million visitors each week to these centers it’s time to clear up some of the confusion surrounding these centers. Read below to see some common myths about urgent care facilities, and the truth about the proposed myths.

Small Emergency Rooms

Urgent care facilities can provide much of the same treatment as an emergency room, but they are not the same. While you can get emergency care at urgent care clinics it is important to remember that there are still some instances where you should go to an emergency room. Almost all urgent situations needing attention can be seen at urgent care centers, but life threatening situations should be addressed in an emergency room.

Appointments

One reason many people probably believe that urgent care clinics are small emergency rooms is because they think that you can’t make appointments to visit a clinic. This is somewhat true, but not completely. It is true that walk in patients can and will be seen without an appointment, however appointments can be made to significantly shorten the duration of time you will spend in the waiting room.

Only After Hour Care

Many assume that the only time urgent care is an option is on the weekends and in the evening hours. It is true that 85% of urgent care centers are open seven days a week and these centers are open later than doctors offices, but that is not the only time they can be used. If your health insurance covers the facility then you can use it whenever you need. This can be extremely helpful when you have to leave work for an injury or illness but your primary doctor can’t see you until the next day.

Getting urgent care doesn’t have to be a chore if you know where to go. Debunking some of these myths hopefully helps make that choice a little easier. Remember if it’s a life threatening situation you should go straight to the ER or call 911, but for urgent matters, urgent care can fix you right up in no time.