Many people are receiving the wrong types of care. While dealing with a medical situation, it’s understandable to feel overwhelmed and confused. Unfortunately, this confusion creates a huge problem that affects both patients and those caring for them. In this post, you’ll learn more about the growing problem emergency rooms across the nation face.

Not Knowing Where to Receive Care

You’ll typically find many emergency rooms throughout the United States are quite crowded. Unfortunately, this is often because many people awaiting care don’t need to be in the ER. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently conducted a study regarding this problem. The results of this study found that 48% of adult emergency room patients that weren’t sick enough for hospital admission visited the ER because their doctor’s office was closed. Those without medical insurance often visit the emergency room because they don’t have a doctor of their own.

Placing Strain on Emergency Room Employees

As emergency rooms continue to remain crowded, this places a strain on ER employees. It’s the goal of any emergency room to provide care to each patient. Unfortunately, caring for patients with minor conditions often takes away from those with medical emergencies. In turn, it decreases the efficiency of these emergency rooms. This is one of the main reasons why many associate emergency rooms with long waiting times.

Finding a Better Treatment Option for Minor Situations

Medical professionals from all walks of life have been looking at ways to solve this problem. Certain emergency room professionals feel that doctor’s offices should remain open longer. For those needing medical treatment, there’s a better solution than waiting for your doctor to extend their hours. You’ll want to strongly consider visiting a local urgent care center.

Urgent care centers typically provide fast treatment for a wide range of patients. One study found that 60% of these facilities maintain an average time of less than 15 minutes for patients to see a physician, or mid level care provider. Urgent care facilities help solve the problem of being unable to receive care while your doctor’s office is closed. A growing percentage of urgent care centers are open seven days a week. Statistics show that 45.7% of urgent care centers are open during Saturday, with 31.1% of these facilities being open on Sunday.

To summarize, emergency rooms are facing a growing problem. Unfortunately, this problem affects the ability of medical professionals to provide fast care for those with actual emergencies. If you’re in need of fast medical treatment, it’s wise to consider visiting an urgent care facility. These facilities are able to treat a wide variety of medical conditions. In addition, receiving care at these locations often results in a much lower bill than what you’ll receive from a hospital.