Many people have some confusion about the difference between an urgent care center and an emergency room. In fact, many people mistakenly believe that one is interchangeable with the other. Even though there are certainly some similarities, there are also some rather large differences.
Both types of facilities tend to be open seven days a week, and you will not need to have an appointment to visit either of them. Both have doctors and other healthcare professionals that can help you with your medical needs. The differences lie in the details. Let’s look a bit at each of these medical care facilities to help you determine which is the right one for different types of health problems.
Urgent
These types of centers will provide patients with medical issues that are not life-threatening. This can include things such as small cuts that might require some stitches, fracture evaluation, headaches, torn ligaments, soft tissue damage, and similar issues that may be causing some pain or problems, but that are not jeopardizing your life or health.
Also, some of the urgent centers will also provide a range of other services, such as chiropractic treatment, massage therapy, and physical therapy. They will typically have x-ray and diagnostic services available as well. Again, these are for issues that are not going to cause immediate loss of life or limb.
Emergency
An emergency room, on the other hand, is for those times when you believe that you or a loved one is having a medical issue that could cause them to die. Some of the different types of issues that could cause you to need to go to the emergency room include difficulty breathing, persistent bleeding, severe chest pains, vaginal bleeding in pregnant women, complex bone fractures, deep cuts, poisoning, or falling unconscious.
The Cost
You will want to keep in mind the cost differences between urgent and emergency care, as well. A visit to the ER could cost thousands of dollars, whereas a visit to an urgent facility tends to be far cheaper. It’s important that you only visit the ER for true emergencies.
What About Primary Care Doctors?
You should visit a primary care doctor if you have a recurring medical problem that is being treated, or that needs to be treated. The urgent facilities tend not to keep your medical records, so they are not a replacement for the primary doctor.
If you are in St. Augustine and need of an urgent care clinic, consider Injury Care Centers. They offer a range of non-emergency services.
