Urgent Care: What to Expect

If you have spent any time in emergency room waiting rooms, you may have resigned yourself to long wait times, unexpected bumps backwards in line, and an exorbitantly high bill with a large out of pocket percentage. 

High quality urgent care facilities offer a different story. Urgent care specializes in filling the gap between the life saving medicine that the emergency room is at its best, and your primary care physician, who may require appointments be made weeks in advance. Because urgent care clinics are able to specialize in this niche, they are able to quickly provide competent, high quality care. 

Wait Time

An average emergency room patient will wait 2.4 hours before they see a physician, and may be bumped to the end of the que at any moment if another patient with more critical needs arrives. The average walk in wait time of an urgent care clinic is approximately 15 minutes, and rarely goes longer than 45 minutes.

Cost

The final cost for care from urgent care is typically less than half that of equivalent emergency room care. Insurance companies are also much more likely to cover urgent care costs than they are emergency room expenses. Expect bill total similar to what you would pay for an appointment with your primary care physician. 

Customer Based Experience

Because clinics are able to narrow their scope of care, they can focus their attention on improving the total patient experience. Visit this website to find an urgent care center in San Diego and make it part of your emergency plan.

The Importance of Your Annual Physical Exam

One third of Americans with chronic diseases are unaware of their health condition. Paired this with the fact thatchronic disease is now the leading cause in 70 percent of all American deaths, and the importance of preventative medicine becomes clear. An annual exam in an essential element in maintaining your health, and is now easier and cheaper to complete than ever before.

Cost of Receiving Your Annual Physical

The majority of preventive examsare covered under the Affordable Care Act, and will most likely be covered entirely by your insurance at no cost to you. Your exam can even be completed on a walk in basis at your local urgent care clinic.

What to Expect in Your Annual Physical

Your exam will be tailored to your gender and age, and will typically last between 15 and 45 minutes. In general, every annual physical patient will receive a thorough general physical exam, and with the assistance of a doctor or nurse practitioner will assemble a detailed health and family health history. You may also receive an EKG to check cardiac risk factors, and receive BMI testing. Your doctor may follow up on any risk factors presented with lab testing to check your blood count and your chemistry panel, and may also request a urinalysis.

An annual exam is a critical tool in addressing health concerns and identifying early markers of disease such as diabetes and breast cancer. Visit this website to learn more about the importance of an annual physical exam in San Diego.

Pediatric Medical Attention

It is important for kids to see a doctor with somewhat frequency so that they can get any shots needed and have their overall health examined to ensure they are taking care of themselves. 

Three Steps to Strengthen Your Worker’s Compensation Insurance Claim

If you have been injured on the job as an employee in San Diego, you are covered under your company’s Worker’s Compensation Insurance. Take the following steps to ensure that you receive the maximum amount of medical treatment and lost wage payments to which you are entitled under California state law.

1. Get Emergency Treatment

If necessary, go to the emergency or call 911. If you are able to do so, inform medical providers that you were injured on the job.

2. Document Everything.

If you do not require immediate medical care, take pictures of anything relating to the accident, and get the contact information of any witnesses. Don’t worry about getting written statements for now, you can take that step later if necessary.
Continue to keep detailed records of all medical treatment received, including urgent care or emergency room visits, prescription costs and travel expenses related to medical appointments.

3. Notify Your Employer

Failure to notify your employer within a certain time span may nullify your claim. Take this step as soon as possible. In California, employers are required to forward a copy of a claim to their insurance administrator and to authorize up to $10,000 for medical treatment within one day of receiving word of a worker’s compensation claim.

Contact a Care Provider Today

Addressing your injury promptly will contribute to a quicker recovery time as well as a stronger insurance claim. To learn more about job injury treatment in San Diego, check out this website for more information.

Finding the Right Urgent Care for Your Child

When your child is ill, the last thing either one of you wants to do is sit in an emergency room waiting room for hours. Unless your child is facing a life threatening emergency, an urgent care clinic is often able to provide equivalent care to what would be provided in an emergency room at a fraction of wait time and overall cost.

Urgent Care or the Emergency Room?

The average emergency room wait time is 2.4 hours, while an urgent care clinic will typically see walk in patients within 15 minutes of check in. In an urgent care clinic, the final cost for treatment will vary from a 25 to 50 percent of that of an emergency room, and insurance providers are much more likely to cover a larger percentage of the bill. This leaves you and your child less stressed and better able to focus on recovery.

How to Choose an Urgent Care Clinic?

Almost all kids urgent care in San Diego will have hours extended past those offered by your pediatrician. Most will stay open until between seven and ten in the evening, and some are open 24 hours a day. Make sure the clinic you choose offers the availability you need.

The range of services provided by an urgent care clinic can also vary. Finding a location which includes lab work and x-rays on site can shorten the amount and length of necessary appointments.

Locating an appropriate healthcare ally for your family in times of stress is critical. For more information regarding kids urgent care in San Diego, click through this website.

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The Benefits of Using Urgent Care Instead of a Hospital

Urgent care centers in San Diego excel in providing immediate care for non life threatening medical emergencies. If you require care now, consider the following factors as you weigh your treatment options.

1. Walk In Access:  Unfortunately, health crises do not always restrict themselves to weekday working hours.  Urgent care clinics provide walk in access and extended hours which are typically unavailable through your primary care physician. Urgent care hours extend into evenings, and weekends, with many locations open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

2. Out of Pocket Expenses: Not only is the total cost of visiting an urgent care location typically about half that of visiting an emergency room, your insurance provider is much more likely to cover a larger percentage of your visit.

3. Speed of Service: Over 95 percent of urgent care clinics have standard wait times of under 40 minutes, with an average wait time of 15 minutes, while a typical emergency room wait time is approximately 2.4 hours.

If you experience any potentially fatal medical emergencies, including excessive breathing, shortness of breath, difficulty speaking or chest pains, go directly to the emergency room. However, for many urgent, non life threatening medical needs, such as broken bones of the hands or feet, sore throats, and treatment of colds and flus, utilizing an urgent care clinic can save you substantial amounts of money and time. Visit this website to find an urgent care center in San Diego and make it part of your emergency plan.

Common Lab Tests Available in Urgent Care Facilities in San Diego

High quality urgent care clinics often include in house lab testing as part of their offerings. The most commonly provided blood tests include a Complete Blood Count and a Basic Metabolic Panel. Urgent care clinics also routinely do urinalyses as well as a host of more pathogen specific testing, which are often available on a same day, walk in basis.

Complete Blood Count

With a CBC, your doctor will be able to determine how many of each type of blood cell you have which are currently active. This test distinguishes between platelets, red and various kinds of white blood cells. A Complete Blood Count can also be a useful tool in determining the health of the immune system.

Basic Metabolic Panel

Also known as BMP or a Chemistry Panel, this test is taken as part of a blood draw. Your physician will be able to learn more about the state of your metabolism, and can test your levels of important minerals such as calcium, sodium and potassium.

Urinalysis

A urine test is performed by collecting a small urine sample, and can be tested to check for signs of kidney or liver dysfunction, diabetes and high blood pressure. Most medical clinics will also test for pregnancy in female patients.

Other Tests

Other more specific tests available at your doctor’s office or your local urgent care clinic include lab tests for mononucleosis and strep throat. For more information on lab testing in San Diego or to schedule an appointment, visit this website.