By Julia Vann
Urgent Care Centers. Most of us have noticed them popping up around our towns and cities in the last few years. There has been a steady increase in the frequency of these centers, but that’s not the only thing there’s been an increase in.
“According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Tuesday, emergency department visits from 2008 to 2015 for low-acuity conditions dropped by 36 percent, while visits to non-emergent care facilities, such as urgent care centers or calls in to telemedicine services, grew by 140 percent” (Lardieri).
In simpler words, people have been going to the emergency room less and are now preferring to the Urgent Care Center. It’s not difficult to see the appeal. With the amount of these centers around town, it is far more convenient for the average person to just pop on in to one of them rather than travel all the way to the hospital.
Additionally, in Urgent Care Centers, the wait times aren’t as long. In spite of the name, Urgent Care Centers allow people with less urgent issues to stop in and get the care they need.
Urgent Care Centers serve as a healthy middle ground between visiting a primary care doctor and the emergency room. They also provide a great service for people without health insurance who don’t even have a primary care doctor.
With all that in mind, it’s really not a challenge to see why Urgent Care Centers have gotten so popular for people to visit. It’s convenient! Anything that gets people to take their health more seriously is good in my books.
For more healthcare news, visit the American Medical Compliance website today.
