What is urgent care?
Urgent Care facilities are a part of 'convenient care' and have rapidly multiplied across the country in recent years. Urgent care centers are walk-in clinics specializing in treating minor illnesses and injuries. Urgent care centers that operate like medical institutions with extended hours can diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions.
On an average day, 30–50 patients visit one of the 8,100 UC centers across the USA, according to the Urgent Care Association of America.
Urgent care medicine includes medical care for non-life-threatening conditions in a dedicated medical facility. In contrast, critical care medicine refers to situations that require immediate medical attention within 12-24 hours and pose an imminent threat to life or limb.
For low-acuity conditions, such as earaches, backaches, or sprains and fractures, an Emergency Room (ER) may not be the best option. Urgent care settings may provide more efficient and affordable treatment in such cases because office-based settings have more straightforward administrative procedures and lower costs than hospital-based emergency departments. On the other hand, emergency medicine provides superior care to two classes of patients: critically ill patients and those requiring an extended period of observation.
Both UC centers and Emergency Departments conduct diagnostic screenings. However, an urgent care center usually only has office-based tests (including X-rays or pregnancy tests). Whereas ERs can conduct advanced imaging tests such as CT and MRI scans. They also perform a range of allergy and pathology testing. Common ailments treated at urgent care clinics include:
- Cuts that aren't particularly severe but may need sutures or stitches
- Breathing problems, such as asthma and other upper respiratory infections (mild to moderate only)
- Sore throat or coughing
- Redness and inflammation of the eyes
- Fever or influenza
- Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
- Minor fractures in fingers and toes
- Back problems of moderate severity
- Infections and rashes on the skin
- Strains, sprains, and other sports-related injuries
- Vomiting, diarrhea, or symptoms that indicate dehydration
Types of urgent care providers
Besides doctors, the following types of healthcare providers also work at urgent care centers:
- Physician assistants (PAs): PAs practice under doctors' supervision to tend to patients of all ages. In urgent care settings, their responsibilities typically include diagnosing and treating illnesses, suturing wounds, and applying splints or casts to broken bones.
- Registered nurses (RNs): In urgent care clinics, RNs may assess your vital signs and record your symptoms. They are qualified to evaluate patient conditions, dress wounds, administer treatments, and perform other direct patient care tasks that unlicensed staff members cannot provide.
- Nurse practitioners (NPs): NPs are registered nurses with extensive additional training, such as a master’s or doctoral practice degree. They work under the supervision of doctors to deliver high-level patient care. NPs are qualified to provide a vast range of services to patients of all ages. Plus, they have full-service autonomy in several US states, so they do not require supervision to diagnose conditions, treat patients, or prescribe medications.
- Medical assistants: Medical assistants may take your medical history, assess your vital signs, and assist the physician, NP, or PA caring for you. Additionally, they may help you with billing and insurance-related concerns during your visit.
- X-ray technicians: X-ray technicians (also known as radiologic technologists) are trained in all aspects of medical imaging, including basic patient care, radiation protocol, and patient positioning. They are qualified to administer a wide range of tests (X-rays, bone density tests, CT scans, etc.).
The role of urgent care in the management of COVID-19
Local community Urgent Care centers were on the frontlines as the Covid-19 pandemic raged across the United States. They also played an essential role in meeting the high demand for testing and Covid-19 vaccines.
By the end of October 2020, Urgent Care centers had performed 725,000 weekly tests, accounting for 10% of all testing in the United States. This unprecedented activity also led to an influx of new patient visits, presenting a chance for post-pandemic expansion. Based on an analysis of data from nearly 5 thousand Urgent Care clinics (roughly half of the US market), patients attended urgent care clinics in record numbers in 2020.
However, the entire growth trajectory is not due to the pandemic alone. Despite the increasing demand due to COVID-19, Urgent Care centers have grown drastically — from under 7,000 in 2015 to over 10,000 by 2020.
Experity, a software provider specializing in urgent care, surveyed half of all US Urgent Care clinics. This research suggests that the demand for COVID-19-related episodic treatment increased by 58 percent in 2020, with testing and immunizations accounting for more than 60 percent of total visits. Experts further claim that clinics saw record patient volumes, and by the end of the year, the average number of patients per clinic per day for 2020 was 58 percent higher than the three-year average.
Things to know before visiting an urgent care center
A few essential things that you must know about seeking urgent care near you include the following:
- Find an urgent clinic that suits your needs
Find a facility or center that provides the kind of care you need. For instance, if your child has an illness, choose an urgent care center specializing in pediatric care. Likewise, if you have arthritis or diabetes, choose an urgent clinic that specializes in orthopedics or diabetic care. It will help you receive proper care and treatment. If you have insurance, select an urgent care center that accepts your insurance plan. It can help cover your treatment and reduce additional expenses.
- Urgent centers cannot treat life-threatening emergencies
Urgent care centers have limited facilities and resources. They can cater to your immediate medical needs but cannot manage life-threatening emergencies. Therefore, it is best to visit the hospital emergency room for life-threatening conditions like unconsciousness, shortness of breath or chest pain, difficulty breathing, multiple severe injuries, severe headaches, severe bleeding, heart attack or stroke symptoms, severe allergic reactions, etc.
Visiting an urgent care center for such emergency or life-threatening conditions could waste valuable time and be dangerous for the patient.
- Bring your medical records
Unlike hospitals or doctors' offices, urgent care centers do not maintain patient records or medical history. Therefore, bring your necessary medical records, including ongoing medicine prescriptions, when you visit the urgent care center. Your medical history can help the physician understand your current health status and provide better treatment for your existing disorder. If you have a doctor that you regularly visit, make their name and office information available at the urgent care center to further expedite your diagnosis and treatment.
- You may not find a doctor
Urgent care centers may only sometimes have a primary care doctor to treat their patients. Their staff may primarily include physician assistants and nurse practitioners trained to diagnose illnesses and prescribe appropriate treatment. So, if you want to see a primary care doctor at the urgent care center, choose a center with a doctor on its staff.
How to find a provider offering urgent care you in Miami, FL
Nothing takes precedence over your physical and mental health. However, long waiting times and the holiday season may come in the way of prompt medical treatment. At such times, urgent care near you plays a crucial role. They provide high-quality care for non-life-threatening conditions that benefit from immediate medical attention.
However, you may need some time to search for the best urgent care site in an hour of need. With Zocdoc, you will be ready to visit a top-rated urgent care center quickly. Search for your condition and 'urgent care'; our comprehensive directory will display the best urgent care center.
You can also look through the profiles of hundreds of urgent care physicians in Miami. These profiles include their medical education, board certifications, licensure, and primary clinical interests. On these pages, you can also learn more about the ratings they received from past customers. Zocdoc displays verified customer reviews for urgent care doctors near you. You can also use Zocdoc without logging in or creating an account.
Using Zocdoc’s insurance detector, you can quickly identify in-network providers near you. When booking an appointment on Zocdoc, the website prompts you to share details about your insurance or to acknowledge that you are paying out-of-pocket. Some healthcare providers need you to provide insurance information in order to schedule appointments with them. If you do not have insurance or do not want to use insurance for your appointment, you can always find another suitable provider on Zocdoc. For more insurance-related queries, check Zocdoc's patient help center.
Zocdoc does not charge you to schedule an appointment. So, booking an appointment with a top-rated doctor offering urgent care near you on Zocdoc is entirely safe, secure, and free.
Urgent care in Miami, FL
In 2014, approximately 113 urgent care centers were serving the residents of Miami-Dade County. In 2012, an urgent care facility averaged 357 weekly patient visits, resulting in more than 160 million visits for all urgent care centers. Since 2010, this volume has continued to increase by three patients per day on average. In a 2012 poll, more than 85% of participating urgent care centers predicted expansion, primarily regarding visitor numbers.
One of the reasons may be prolonged waiting times. According to a report pushed by Vitals (called 'The Physician Wait Time Report'), Miami ranks among the cities with the most extended average patient wait times — 22 minutes and 29 seconds, to be precise.
Interestingly, a 2010 research study published in Health Affairs concluded that approximately 13.7% to 27.1% of all visits to emergency departments could be managed at an urgent care center. The study further predicted this would lead to a cost reduction of $4.4 billion annually.
Sources
American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine
Experity
Medical Surge and the Role of Urgent Care Centers (Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange)
Mount Sinai
Making "Convenient Care" The Right Care For All: Improving State Oversight of Urgent Care Centers and Retail Health Clinics (Community Catalyst)
Covid-19 And Urgent Care Centers (The Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange)
Urgent Care Centers (Miami-Dade Government)
Becker's Hospital Review
Healthline
Healthgrades
ConvenientMD
Rivier University
Barton Associates
American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine
