Urgent Care vs. Emergency Room: What are Differences in Services & Costs?By: Cruz Bernal, M.D.
The difference in clinical services provided at an urgent care and emergency room are related to the severity of the health problem. If the condition is life-threatening, go to an emergency room. If the condition is a minor injury or illness, take advantage of the convenience and affordability available at an urgent care center.
Emergency rooms are perfect for emergency situations. Go straight to a hospital if you have chest pain, difficulty breathing, stroke symptoms, severe bleeding, or trauma. However, if your condition is non-life threatening, an urgent care can provide you fast medical attention usually within an hour. Urgent care centers provide x-ray and lab services and are open late seven days a week.
In a recent study, hospital emergency rooms and free-standing ERs were more than 10-times expensive than an urgent care. It was also found that three-fourth (3/4) of emergency room visits could have been treated in an urgent care. An average emergency room bill can run over $1300 compared to treatment at an urgent care center that can be significantly less.
With so many free-standing ERs, people have been confused with understanding the difference in services. To be clear, the free-standing ERs carry the same cost of a hospital ER. And yes, although a patient may be seen quickly in a free-standing ER, the cost is equal to a hospital ER bill. Being treated in an urgent care rather than a hospital emergency room or a free-standing ER can save you time and money by getting the right care at the right place.
An urgent care center can treat you for common conditions such as: earaches and infections; minor cuts and sprains; fever and flu symptoms; cough, cold and sore throat; allergies; and rash or skin irritations. Convenient access to fast, affordable medical care, makes it easy to decide to find an urgent care center close to your neighborhood in case of an unplanned illness or injury. Choosing an urgent care center affiliated with a hospital system is even better because they will have physician specialists available to transition your care to if the need arises. DHR Health has two urgent care centers in McAllen and one urgent care center in Mission.
Understanding the difference between an emergent issue and a medical condition that can be treated at an urgent care center, will save you time, money and allow you to receive the treatment needed in a quality manner. If you need more information on what services are available at a DHR Health Urgent Care Center, please call (956) 362-5030.
Source: consumerreports.org; revcycleintelligence.com
