What is urgent care medical serices?

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[ProudFossil]

What is the purpose of all the urgent care centers in the urban areas, specifically Albuquerque, New Mexic?

[ProudFossil]

Our daughter-in-law cut her thumb very badly while preparing dinner last Sunday. She band-aid it and did not seek any medical care. It got worse. On Friday she went to her primary care physician's office but there were no doctors present. She told the nurse she would then go to a local urgent care facility to have it treated, primarily for infection and possible sutures. She was told she would need a referral from her doctor before she could go to any urgent care facility.

She was told urgent care facilities can no longer accept walk in patients!!!!! I thought that was their purpose, to accept patients in the local neighborhood for quasi-emergency treatment, such as a bad cut or in my own case being catheterized. Since it is impossible to have an appointment with a doctor in less than a month any more how is one able to get a referral to go to urgent care?

[CivilWarBrewing]

See or call your GP first, for a referral to an urgent care center. Not so urgent at that point, but..

[marktwain]

The purpose is to make money. They are for profit enterprises.

[ConservativeMind]

In my area, the whole purpose of “urgent care” is to handle stuff as walk-ins.

The care available is more routine, but not requiring an ER or primary care visit.

[Innovative]

I think she can go to a hospital emergency department. They would treat her there.

I don’t understand why the urgent care center wouldn’t accept her. I thought they were established specifically to provide urgent care for people who need immediate medical attention, but their problem is not life-threatening. Clearly they are failing to do that.

[rstrahan]

Stuff that doesn’t need an ER, but you can’t get into your Dr.

[Mears]

“She was told she would need a referral from her doctor before she could go to any urgent care facility.”

—

I find that odd———maybe it’s a state thing. (I’m in MA)

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[A CA Guy]

I think it is a level of care you use after hours or when you think it could be beyond your doctor’s office ability.

When X-rays, stitches or hospitalisation could be coming.

[Bryanw92]

>>See or call your GP first, for a referral to an urgent care center. Not so urgent at that point, but..

Just the opposite actually. You go to the urgent care when it can’t wait until you can get in to see your doctor but isn’t really ER-worthy. The co-pays and fees are a lot less at the urgent care too.

[PJBankard]

They told her that because they want her to spend money at their office not at the Urgent Care. Urgent Care is a 24/7 Doctor’s Office. They function exactly as you think, non-emergency 24hr care.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Don't know in your area.

In our area they still take walk ins.

We also have a system where we can call our doctor and get a referral even after hours. They will call the ER of our choosing and tell them that we are coming in.

I get migraines that sometimes require a visit to the ER. With a referral I can get taken right to a darkened room and seen more quickly.

[yetidog]

Sounds like your daughter’s injury is what an urgent care or an emergency room is for. Is it about insurance? I do know the expansion of for-proft urgent care centers is not popular with local medical services. Does not look like a great business model to me but I know nothing —less than nothing—about health care economics.

[RegulatorCountry]

Otherwise known as a “doc in a box,” their hours are much longer than traditional doctor’s offices, open weekends as well. Cheaper than the emergency room. If you’ve injured yourself in a way that does not require a trip to the ER, if you’re not feeling well and want to get a diagnosis and prescription, that sort of thing, and your primary care doctor is not available, too late in the day or it’s a weekend, then the doc in a box is where you would go.

[Robert DeLong]

Probably rules within Obamacare. Nothing to do with better health care, only more red tape.

[MamaB]

What state do you live in? I walk in all the time if my dr’s office is closed. I get very good care. I just went to one a few weeks ago on a Saturday because I had a severe UTI. I thought I had one and knew I needed meds right then,

[umgud]

Go to the ER, in my area, it’s generally less than a 10 hour wait.

[EinNYC]

I hurt my thumb a couple of months ago, on a weekend. I could go to an ER and spend hours waiting there with a bunch of gunshot wound cases and illegal trash who don’t have a family doctor and so are financially burdening ERs who by law cannot turn anyone away for lack of documentation, or I could go to one of the new urgent care centers popping up all over like mushrooms. I looked up a couple of local urgent care centers and chose one which had good reviews. I called my insurance company to run it by them. I got seen by a very polite doctor in minutes. He treated the problem and it healed right up, no complications. My insurance reimbursed me, and so my opinion of urgent care centers is very good.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Basically to do anything not emergency. Hopefully to free the ERs of non-emergencies.

I go ALOT. They are ready to go, when your doc is not, and you just NEED it NOW even if it’s not obviously an “emergency”.

[M. Dodge Thomas]

She was told she would need a referral from her doctor before she could go to any urgent care facility. She was told urgent care facilities can no longer accept walk in patients!!!!!

Something wrong here, urgent care facilities in ABQ definitely do accept walk-in patients:

https://www.phs.org/locations/Pages/urgent-care.aspx

[the OlLine Rebel]

Referral? Unless AZ is doing something to squelch UC centers because primary doctors are whining (always possible!), their whole purpose was to be available when your doctor is not.