In the world of healthcare, there are three major options when it comes to pursuing care. You can receive care at your primary care doctor’s office, at an urgent care clinic near you, or the nearest emergency room. The clinic you go to depends on the kind of care needed. Seems simple, right? Not always. When life happens, it’s not easy to determine when you should go to urgent care, the emergency room, or simply to try to get an appointment with your primary care provider.
Primary care providers are a great resource for general care. They are your go-to source when you need medical attention but it’s not life threatening. Some examples of when to see your primary care provider are:
Your primary care provider is generally your first call in non-emergency situations. Although their office hours are not always the most convenient, they know your medical history and generally give you care specific to you.
The emergency room is intended for life-saving medical care provided any time day or night. Emergency rooms are unlike urgent care clinics in they are trained and equipped for complex and extreme medical cases. Emergency room medical professionals are trained to provide rapid and advanced treatment that’s only available at a hospital. Reasons to go to the emergency room:
Emergency room care is for traumatic accidents: falls, car crashes, heart attack, stroke, etc.
Urgent care clinics help to close the gap between primary care and the emergency room. Urgent care is ideal for anytime your physician is unavailable. This is referring to those times when you get sick or injured at an inconvenient time of day and your primary care physician’s office is closed, or when you can’t wait more than a day for an appointment.
By definition, urgent care centers are same-day clinics that are able to see people for a variety of reasons. They are intended for medical problems that are not life-threatening, but need immediate relief like:
The treatment from urgent care clinics is quick and less expensive than the emergency room and your primary physician.
Sherwood urgent care aims to be Detroit’s most convenient and comprehensive urgent care clinic. Our team of medical professionals are board certified with over 20 years of experience providing treatment to our patients. Worried about payment? Our clinic accepts most insurances and offers affordable payment solutions. Stop in today to see the difference Sherwood Urgent Care makes.