Health Insurance Articles

Using Urgent Care Facilities To Get The Most Out Of Your Health Insurance Coverage

2010-03-24

Long gone are the days of house calls, when the town doctor would grab his bag and visit a patient in the comfort of their own home. In modern times, it can be difficult to get an appointment without calling your primary care provider two weeks in advance! As waiting rooms fill and schedules become overbooked, the health care industry is looking for ways to give patients the care they need in a more efficient way. And with the economy in a state of decline and the cost of health insurance sky-rocketing, insurance companies are embracing less traditional methods of patient care to get the job done. One such option is an urgent care clinic, also known as a retail clinic.

Retail or urgent care clinics first appeared on the scene in the 1970s and their numbers have rapidly increased as the public demand for convenient and affordable healthcare has risen. The facilities are staffed by nurse practitioners and medical assistants on site and are affiliated with local physicians. Urgent care offices are generally open evenings and weekends, when traditional doctor's offices may be closed. They are sometimes referred to as "retail" clinics due to the fact that they tend to open these facilities in places like strip malls to give their patients easy access to care. Some larger chain stores, particularly those which already have established pharmacies, are also adding urgent care offices.

Using urgent care facilities can save time and money, but it is important to know when to visit. It is critical to note that these are medical offices and not hospitals. For life-threatening emergencies, you must always dial 911 or seek immediate care at the nearest emergency room. Urgent care centers are designed to treat minor ailments such as: sprains, strains, sore throats, minor infections, small cuts, and minor fractures.

While at first, such offices may seem to be a threat to the local doctors and insurance companies, in fact, quite the opposite is true. Retail facilities actually help drive down costs by taking patients with minor health care needs out of already overcrowded emergency rooms. Urgent care clinics accept patients with or without health insurance coverage. They are designed to be affordable. Visits to retail clinics tend to cost roughly half the amount of a visit to a traditional doctor's office. This saves insurance companies a great deal of money. To encourage patients to seek care at an urgent care office, many insurance providers allow patients to visit them for a very small co-pay and some companies waive this fee altogether. When getting a health insurance quote take all of this into account and choose the best option.