Many patients are confused about when to visit an urgent care vs. emergency room and what to bring to urgent care visits. The following urgent care checklist will ensure that your next visit goes as smoothly as possible.
How Do I Determine If I Should Go to an Urgent Care vs. Emergency Room?
In general, an urgent care clinic is a better choice than the emergency room for situations that you would feel comfortable talking to your primary care doctor, such as:
• a sore throat;
• gastrointestinal issues, such as diarrhea or vomiting;
• low-grade fever;
• upper respiratory infections; and
• minor lacerations, burns, sprains, and fractures.
We recommend the emergency room for the following types of situations:
• head injuries,
• traumatic injuries caused by automobile accidents,
• wounds that are deep or that bleed excessively,
• drug overdoses,
• severe respiratory distress or coughing up blood,
• severe chest or abdominal pain,
• sudden confusion or altered mental status, and
• seizures.
What Is the Difference Between Emergency Room and Urgent Care Insurance Cost?
An emergency room visit can leave you with thousands of dollars in bills even with medical insurance. Since our prices are far lower than those charged by hospital emergency rooms, your insurance covers a greater percentage of your cost, which means less money out of pocket for you. All of our locations throughout Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina accept most private insurance plans as well as Medicare and Medicaid.
What Are My Urgent Care Payment Options?
Your portion of your urgent care insurance cost, such as deductibles or co-pays, is due at the time of your visit. We accept a wide range of urgent care payment options including, credit cards, cash, checks, and debit cards.
How Much Does a Visit Without Urgent Care Insurance Cost?
We believe in providing affordable and transparent pricing for all of our services. Our prices for self-pay patients are typically less than other urgent care clinics and far more affordable than those charged by hospital emergency rooms. For example, the prices for our work, school, and general physicals are less than $100. A basic provider visit to diagnose and treat most common medical complaints is $119, and an office visit involving a procedure or advanced service runs $199. Of course, vaccines, outside labs, and durable medical equipment are billed separately.
How Do I Create an Urgent Care Checklist?
Knowing what to bring to urgent care visits not only makes your visit go faster, but it enables the provider to make the best possible decisions regarding your treatment. We encourage all patients to keep an updated list of the following information that they bring to every primary care, urgent care, or emergency room visit:
• A current list of all over-the-counter and prescription medications that you are taking as well as any vitamins or supplements. You should also include what you take the medication for, the name of the prescriber, the amount that you take, and how often you take the medication.
• A list of your food or medication allergies.
• A list of any medical procedures or surgeries that you have had and who performed them.
• The name and contact information of your primary care provider and any specialists that you may see.
What Is the Difference in Wait Times Between Urgent Care vs Emergency Room?
Since emergency rooms prioritize illnesses and injuries that pose an immediate threat to life or limb, patients with serious conditions that are not life-threatening can end up waiting for hours. Urgent care centers, such as FastMed, are ideal for those situations that cannot wait for your primary care doctor but that don’t need the type of critical care available at the emergency room.
Our goal is to see patients as quickly as possible. In fact, most of our patients are in and out in less than an hour. It is even possible to skip the waiting room with PriorityAccess registration and check-in. The process is quick and simple:
• Go online to locate your nearest FastMed location.
• Check in online.
• Complete your e-registration.
When you arrive at our clinic, let the receptionist know that you signed up using PriorityAccess and you will be directed to the first available patient room.
About FastMed
FastMed is a North Carolina-based integrated healthcare company based in Durham, NC. It operates more than 50 locations in 34 counties providing urgent care and occupational health as well as primary care at select locations. FastMed accepts most insurance plans and is one of a few private urgent care centers also accredited by The Joint Commission. Learn more at fastmed.com.
