When you or a loved one suddenly falls ill, your first instinct would be to rush to the emergency room to seek immediate medical attention. Certainly, emergency rooms take in patients suffering from minor to severe illnesses or injuries. However, when you consider the sheer volume that people that go into the ER at any given time, you may want to assess whether your need for medical condition needs emergency care or critical care.

Although critical care medical clinics offer the same quality of medical attention and treatment as their emergency room counterparts do, not many people will think of visiting one since they are not familiar with this type of health care center. To discern if a visit will be worthwhile, check out the following succinct introductions to urgent care medical clinics.

Are urgent care medical clinics equipped to handle emergencies?

The answer is yes and no. Generally, urgent care medical clinics are capable of treating most emergencies that would not require a visit to emergency care. So what does this mean? If you have fractured your ankle, for example, your leg is not at risk of dying due to loss of blood circulation. Hence, you can visit an urgent care medical clinic for treatment.

Conversely, if you have acquired a deep gash in your leg that is losing a considerable volume of blood, you would need to visit an emergency room immediately to mitigate the risk of losing the leg. Other ailments that can be addressed at an urgent care clinic include viral and bacterial infections, broken bones, allergic reactions, and so on.

Do you need paperwork before you can visit an urgent care medical clinic?

As with most health care centers, urgent care medical clinics will mandate their patients to have certain documents. Photo identification, to begin with, is mandatory. So you could choose to have your driver's license, military ID, student identification, or passport. Secondly, if you want to use insurance to pay for urgent care services, you need to enquire whether that specific medical clinic will accept payments from your insurance provider. Alternatively, if you are uninsured, you can request the administration at the urgent care medical clinic to discuss payment options with you, as this will go a long way in making your treatment as affordable as possible.

Will an urgent care medical clinic provide you with long-term prescriptions?

The answer is no. Certainly, urgent care medical clinics are authorized to provide you with medications if they are in line with the treatment you require for your medical condition. Nonetheless, these medications are typically for the short term. If you have a pre-existing condition and take prescription medication for it, you would need your primary care physician to refill this prescription instead.

For more information on how a medical clinic can help you, contact a professional near you.