Among your considerations when choosing a Pearland medical clinic are the typical primary wants of most people needing urgent care. When you consider your options for urgent care, you should weigh these factors.
- Receiving competent physician and nursing care and/or diagnosis;
- The clinic treating your problem as ‘urgent,’ providing care in reasonable time frames; and
- Receiving effective and timely care at a reasonable cost.
These considerations apply whether you’re in Pearland, Texas or anywhere else. Selecting a Pearland urgent care clinic before you need it will save you time and indecisiveness right after an accident, the onset of illness or injury producing event. But, how should you choose the best urgent care clinic for you?
Considerations for Evaluating Urgent Care Facilities
In the past 20 years, urgent care centers (UCCs) have grown from a few such facilities to over 9,000 centers in the US. The following are some factors you should consider when evaluating a Pearland medical clinic and UCC.
- Is the facility owned by or affiliated with an area hospital? While those that are owned by or contractually affiliated with an area hospital is neither good nor bad, should you need immediate hospitalization, you may encounter less difficulty in admission situations. Conversely, if you have a preferred hospital choice other than one in the ownership or affiliation group, you may prefer an urgent care center that is independent of hospital entanglements.
- Does the UCC offer faster or lower cost care than area hospital emergency rooms? The waiting periods in some hospital ERs has, at times, become an oxymoron when compared with their name. Emergencies, by definition, should be handled as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, some hospital ERs process such a large volume of patients, speedy, competent diagnosis and/or treatment often is impossible.
- Are their operating hours convenient or sufficient? Typical hours of UCC operation are often 8:00 AM to 8:00 or 9:00 PM. Should a problem surface outside of a clinic’s operating hours, is there also a nearby hospital emergency room you could visit? If yes, is the closest ER in a hospital you favor? Time may be of the essence, yet, competent care is equally important.
- Does your primary care physician (PCP) offer extended hours of operation or emergency treatment during practice off hours? Although most do not, depending on the nature of your problem, your PCP may not be qualified to help you even if he/she offers emergency services.
- Are UCC physicians employed by the ownership corporation, independent contractors or part of a separate physician legal entity? Since some states prohibit “corporate practice of medicine,” some UCC physician staffs practice as independent contractors or create a medical organization with a contract with the urgent care facility. Once again, the answer is neither inherently good or bad, but you should know how the UCC is organized for your comfort and confidence level.
When you consider a Pearland medical clinic, you should put Prime Urgent Care on your list. We offer all the advantages of a top walk-in treatment facility, with the additional advantage of timely, lower cost when compared to traditional hospital ERs. We are in a network containing most prominent healthcare insurance providers, helping to make your visit to us successful. Call us for more information, as we’re ready to serve you until 9:00 PM daily and until 5:00 PM on weekends.
