Urgent care facilities exist to serve patients who quickly need help with a medical condition or cold but can't get booked with their primary care provider. Sometimes you just get sick out of nowhere and your main doctor is already booked up for the day. An urgent care center can get you a diagnosis and a prescription for medication so you can get back out there and finish your day. Here are some tips to keep in mind if you've never used an urgent care center before.
Check Before You Are Sick for Things Like Hours and Insurance
If you are finding this article after you are already sick, this might not be beneficial, but for future reference, it can help to know the hours of your local urgent care facility and which types of insurance they provide before you get sick. Then, you can simply go to your urgent care center of choice without having to worry about any of the details.
Walk-Ins Are Usually Welcome, but You Can Still Try to Call or Go Online
Almost all urgent care centers accept walk-in appointments as this is a big part of why urgent care centers exist in the first place. But some urgent care facilities will still let you schedule an appointment if you call in advance. This way, you can guarantee that you will be seen anytime during the day when you have a break from work. If you walk in, you will be seen eventually but you'll have to wait behind whoever got there first. Some urgent care centers today even have websites, and it might be possible to check in online or through an app in order to reserve a specific time for yourself.
Bring Documentation if Needed
When you walk into your primary doctor's office, he or she likely has a long file on you that has your insurance information, medical history, your allergies, and so on. Urgent care centers normally don't keep such records for the long-term, and they certainly won't have anything if this is your first time there. Don't forget to bring any documentation you might need in order to make your visit successful. This includes your insurance card, your list of medications, and any other medical info that is relevant to your visit.
Urgent care centers can see people quickly and have them feeling better in no time. But you still need to go into the urgent care facility with a bit of preparation if you want fast results.
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