Why Choose Urgent Care?

“Take them to the ER!” has become a generic phrase to use whenever someone severely injures themselves—and while sometimes the emergency room is indeed a necessary destination, oftentimes your local AFC urgent care center is actually a better fit for your health needs.

So, how do you know when you should go to the emergency room versus when you should go to urgent care? Well, the decision may be even simpler than you think. Urgent care centers are typically open during more traditional business hours, have shorter lines, and offer many of the same services as emergency rooms.

Here are three reasons you should consider going to an urgent care center instead of an ER:

1) Speed
Since the urgent care center isn’t directly connected to a hospital, the staff is not spread as thin, thus creating a shorter wait time for your loved ones. If you are concerned about getting in and out without a huge time delay, and the injury isn’t life threatening, urgent care may be right for you.

2) Cost
Insurance typically only covers life-threatening trips to the emergency room, so if your injury isn’t life threatening and you’re looking to make sure the trip is covered, it may be time to consider an urgent care center.

3) Testing
Not every medical situation involves a broken bone. Sometimes you just feel under the weather and need to see what’s wrong. If you simply want a diagnosis, but don’t feel you’re in immediate danger, an urgent care center may be the best solution for you.