The American College of Emergency Physicians recommends that the following conditions be seen in an emergency facility: difficulty breathing, chest or abdominal pain or pressure, loss of consciousness, severe vomiting or diarrhea or bleeding. Other advice can be seen in the websites listed in this section.
Urgent care is designed to provide treatments that your doctor would usually provide in his/her office. Urgent care facilities are not designed to handle serious emergencies. They are best at managing temporary problems, like rashes, sore throats, colds, and minor orthopedic injuries. If your doctor’s office is closed, urgent care is a good option and is much less expensive than the emergency room. Insurance may cover some or all of the cost. However, if you go to an emergency room for a minor problem, your insurance company may make you pay some of the extra cost.
Urgent care facilities can be owned and operated in a variety of ways: by physicians, hospitals, health systems, corporations, etc. Physicians and nurses staff many facilities. Others, like those in retail stores, are usually staffed by nurse practitioners.