How to Find the Best 24-Hour Urgent Care in Your Area
Urgent care centers are excellent resources for those who require prompt medical attention from highly qualified health professionals. Gone are the days where such individuals would have to wait in a crowded emergency room or pay astronomical medical bills for minor ailments. With 24-hour urgent care clinics popping up all over California, it is important to know the difference between an acceptable clinic and one that is not.
Unless you work in medicine, it is highly unlikely that you know what to look for when researching these facilities. Furthermore, when urgent care is needed, it is natural to simply head to the closest clinic to your location. Our dedicated team of healthcare professionals have made it easy for patients to quickly find the best clinic based on their needs. Continue reading to learn a few helpful tips on how to assess the urgent care facilities in your area.
How to Assess the Quality of a 24-Hour Urgent Care Clinic
- Wait times
Urgent care clinics are known for providing much faster service than emergency rooms or primary care providers, however, there are a few factors that affect the speed at which you will be seen. For example, a clinic that does not have a large staff may frequently become overwhelmed with too many patients. For this reason, it is always best to check how many members of staff are available before going to one of these facilities.
Additionally, modern urgent care clinics often have an online check-in process or patient forms that can be completed before arriving at the clinic. This enables you to save time before you get to the clinic and avoid sitting in a crowded waiting room. At Advanced Urgent Care of Pasadena, we offer a patient portal on our website where you can find all of this important information. Our patients can also pay their bills online, which means they can make their way home immediately after being seen by a clinician.
- Accepted insurance
If you or a loved one are in urgent need of medical care, you may neglect to think about the cost of healthcare services. Medical bills can, unfortunately, be very expensive if your health insurance is denied at the time of payment. We recommend checking online to find out which insurance policies are accepted at the urgent care clinic of your choice before your arrival. Additionally, if you do not have insurance, you may want to call and ask how much it will cost to pay out of pocket for the necessary services.
At our urgent care clinic, we guarantee affordable prices for those who do not have access to health insurance. Additionally, we accept almost all insurance policies in California, and we are happy to call your provider if they do not appear on our current list.
- Services
Unlike an emergency room, patients should not expect every 24-hour urgent care clinic to provide all of the services they need. Depending on the size of the clinic, the types of professionals working in the facility, along with many other factors, you may find that you are not able to get the treatment you need. This can result in a serious waste of time where you could have otherwise been assessed at another clinic or hospital.
To avoid wasting time and money, we suggest looking online or contacting the clinic to ask what types of services they offer based on your needs. For example, if you believe you are having a problem with your IUD, you will want to make sure the clinic offers advanced women’s health services.
- Equipment
Similar to checking for the available services at the clinic of your choice, it is equally important to know what type of equipment they have access to. For example, if you suspect that you may have a fractured bone, you will want to find a clinic that offers X-Ray screenings. Otherwise, you may be assessed by a doctor, however, they will have to refer you to a clinic or hospital with an X-Ray machine.
With a quick online search, you should be able to get an idea of the kind of medical equipment that will be available to you upon arrival. If you are not sure what type of equipment is needed for your type of injury or illness, call the clinic to discuss the problem. This will save you time and energy when looking for urgent care.
- Telehealth services
In the age of COVID-19, we have realized the importance of offering virtual medical appointments. Urgent care clinics like Advanced Urgent Care of Pasadena are now offering online appointments where you can quickly meet with a physician via video conferencing. If in-person services are not necessary, this is a great way to save you from wasting a trip to the clinic.
Check online to see if telehealth services are available and if they may be right for you. If the clinic you are looking at does not offer virtual appointments, you should be able to find one in your area that does.
- Reviews
Customer reviews are incredibly important when it comes to medical care. For example, if you are taking your sick child to see a doctor, you will want to make sure you will be met with friendly staff, prompt service, and high-quality pediatric care. Similarly, if you are going to have an STD test, you will want to be in a non-judgmental environment where you feel comfortable asking questions to the healthcare professionals on site. If patient reviews are primarily negative, this should be considered a major red flag. In this case, we highly recommend looking elsewhere for 24-hour urgent care.
Allow Advanced Urgent Care to Help
Are you looking for a clinic in your area that you can rely on seven days a week for all of your medical needs? Advanced Urgent Care of Pasadena is proud to offer advanced medical services, equipment, and specialized staff for Pasadena residents. Contact us today to learn more about our excellent health services.