WHY AN URGENT

CARE?
BY MADELEINE MENDOZA
INDEPENDENT STUDY MENTORSHIP – FALL 2019
MRS. DAFFERN
DISCLAIMER

• Some of the information featured in this PowerPoint comes from outside sources. I did not produce all
the information on my own.
MENTORS
INTRODUCTIONS
• My mentor, whom I meet on Tuesdays,
is Nurse Practitioner Jim Patton
• He has previous work experience in
Emergency rooms and has worked at
the Urgent Care Clinic for multiple
years.
• My mentor, whom I meet on Thursdays,
is Physician’s Assistant Angela Saint
John
• She has 13 years experience and
worked in an ER for 8 ½ years, before
working at the Urgent Care Clinic
PROJECT TOPIC
SLIDE
• The topic I will be covering in this
presentation will be about what an
urgent care is, and why one should
use them.
• I chose this topic because I believe
the general public is unaware of
what an urgent care is, how it
differs from an emergency room,
and when/why they should visit
one.
• With that thought in mind I will be
explaining the differences between
an urgent care and emergency
room, the treatments offered at an
urgent care, the conditions
treated, and most importantly why
it is a convenient and efficient
option for the person seeking
medical treatment.
ABOUT ISM

• ISM, Independent Study Mentorship, is a program that allows high school

students the ability to explore the career field of their choice with a mentor. It
has students traveling to the mentor’s workplace, shadowing them, and
learned from professionals about their choice of career field. It is an advanced
academic class that sees student at the end of each semester doing a 15-25-
minute presentation on a topic that pertains to our mentorship site.
• Students of this program are required to meet with their mentors for a
minimum of 3 hours a week and work 2 hours a week on required ISM
assignments such as:
• Activity Logs: cataloging our hours and acting as a brief statement over what
we did during our visit
• Weekly Journal: usual about what we did with our mentor that week
• Weebly portfolio: https://madeleinemendoza.weebly.com/
• 10 artifacts from our mentorship site
 WHAT IS AN URGENT CARE?
• The definition Urgent Care Medicine is an immediate medical service offering outpatient care for the
treatment of acute and chronic illness and injury. Urgent care does not replace your primary care
physician. An urgent care center is a convenient option when someone's regular physician is on vacation
or unable to offer a timely appointment. Or, when illness strikes outside of regular office hours, urgent
care offers an alternative to waiting for hours in a hospital Emergency Room.
• The reason Urgent Cares came to be was due to a public need for accessible, fast, and economically
efficient treatment for minor aliments and non-medical emergencies. The wait times from primary care
clinics and emergency rooms were non-patient friendly for people who needed fast quick treatment,
nor were they walk-in friendly.
• The main difference between an Urgent Care and an Emergency Room is not only the treatments but
the costs. While the treatments vary drastically from simple shots to emergency surgeries and MRIs, the
cost and efficiency for the patient is the most striking difference. An emergency room is meant for a life-
threatening emergency like severe chest pain/ respiratory distress or severe lacerations and wounds. An
emergency room is less accessible and are usually in medical centers or hospitals while urgent cares are
found more locally found, like near a school or grocery store.
WHEN ONE SHOULD GO TO
AN URGENT CARE
• If you are not suffering a life-threatening injury or illness
than the emergency room is not for you. An emergency
room is meant for people who need immediate medical
treatment, however if you have a fever, flu, cold, or
allergies then you’ll have to wait hours just to get treated
and overcharged.
• An urgent care is for minor injuries, like sprains or
fractures, and common aliment treatment, flu or cold. If
you are experiencing severe trauma then an ER would be
better suited, however if you just have an ache or pain
then the Urgent Care is a more efficient and convenient
place for you to seek treatment.
• As seen on the brochure there is a longer list of conditions
that can be treated, but some common conditions are
cold, flu, allergies, sprains, UTIs, and sinus issues.
COST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN URGENT CARE VS
EMERGENCY ROOM

• Due to a new policy in most insurances any non-life-threatening emergency that is treated at an
emergency room will not be covered by your health insurance. This policy was put in place to
discourage people from overcrowding emergency rooms, for minor aliments like a flu or cold. It
was also to help waste less emergency resources on non-emergency conditions.
• As you’ll see in the next slide many common illness that can be easily treated are charged
sometimes over $500 dollars more than if they had just gone to an urgent care to be seen and
treated.
“Without health insurance, urgent care is a much better choice than the ER for minor, acute issues.
As shown in the above table, the amount you may pay at the ER can be three to four times higher
than what you’d pay to be treated for the same issue at urgent care. Many people go to the ER
because they know they’ll have to be treated, even without insurance. Urgent care centers will also
treat you without insurance and many will offer payment plans if you can’t pay upfront.” (Solvhealth)
EXAMPLES OF
COST
DIFFERENCES IN
TREATMENTS
BETWEEN AN
EMERGENCY
ROOM AND
URGENT CARE
CONVENIENCE AND EFFICIENCY
• Walk-ins are welcomed every time and wait times of an urgent care is 30 minutes nation wide. This
however can change depending on how many patients are walking in at the same time. The average
wait time for an emergency room in the United States of America is one hour and a 30 minutes, without
adding the average two hours it takes to be seen, diagnosed, and discharged. Urgent cares cut the time
in half or even less.
• Along with being more time convenient for patients, it is also more convenient than scheduling to see
your primary care doctor. The average wait time to see your primary care is about an hour waiting in
the lobby, and then another 30 minutes to an hour waiting to be actual seen by them, get evaluated,
diagnosed, and discharged
• It is this convenience and efficiency that has made urgent cares popular amongst millennials, parents of
small children, and working adults. Scheduling a visit with your doctor or child’s doctor on average takes
20 days(business days) before the actual appointment, depending on the case load the physician has.
This can cause the patient’s condition is worsen over time or make the patient miserable until the day
of the appointment.
 TREATMENTS
OFFERED AT AN
URGENT CARE
• As seen on the brochure there is a list of conditions that
can be treated at an urgent care. An urgent care is able to
treat sprains, allergies, back pain, numerous -itises, cold,
flu, strep, bronchitis, pink eye, STDs, tetanus, poison ivy,
head lice, and numerous other conditions.
• Treatments that the general public are typically unaware
of are that fact that an urgent care can provide x-rays of
lungs and bones, help temporarily cast a broken bone
before you meet the orthopedic, suture certain
lacerations, certain drain abscesses from the body,
Vitamin B12 injections.
• However depending on the urgent care you choose as
your primary place of treatment; treatments can vary
depending on where you go. The Creekside Urgent Care
next to the middle school offers hormone replacement
therapy. As well as not all medical personal on staff can
carry out certain physicals, so make sure to call first to
double check.
RESEARCH

I. I plan to research the differences between an Urgent Care and Emergency Room from cost to
treatment options
II. Research the overall patient experience: wait time, efficiency, experience
III. Treatment options available and medical conditions, or exams offered
CURRENT EVENT

• My current event was done over “Emergency Room, Urgent Care or Primary Care Physician?” which
highlights the differences between emergency rooms, urgent cares, and primary care clinics. This helps
with my research project by showing the generic differences between emergency rooms and urgent
cares, showing common treatments offered by Urgent Cares, and experiences as well as conditions that
are treated at the different locations
• It explains how an emergency room is for possibly life-threatening conditions like severe chest pain, and
difficulty breathing. Whereas an urgent care is more convenient if you can not see your primary doctor
due to hours or it being the weekend, as well as how it can treat minor stings, bug bites, cuts, and offers
x-rays for broken/fractured bones or chest x-rays. They also are better suited for quick physicals rather
than waiting for your primary care doctor.
PRODUCT

• My product is a brochure that explains the differences between an

urgent care and emergency room and will be a quick and easy way
to learn about the conditions that can be treated at an Urgent Care.
As well as why it can be beneficial to go to one due to insurance or
lack of. There on the brochure there is a tiny checklist of conditions
that are better suited to be seen by an urgent care, as well as the
nearest urgent care clinic near us, and a short explanation of who all
staffs an urgent care. One the very front is the definition of an
urgent care. There is a list of what conditions can be treated at the
local urgent clinic near Creekside Intermediate School.
CONCLUSION

An urgent care is a medical location meant for non-

emergency conditions to be seen and treated. It is not only more
time efficient for the patient, but convenient and affordable for
the general public. While going to an emergency room may seem
like the more comfortable option for us, due to our knowledge of
it, it is not always the best for us, due to the high cost, lack of
insurance coverage, and wait times. Urgent cares can treat
numerous conditions and while we may not be aware of all
things that can be treated at one, a simple quick call can help to
save the hassle of waiting hours to be seen at an emergency
room for a condition that could have been treated in an hour at
an urgent clinic.
THANK YOU SLIDE

• I would like to thank Angela, Jim, and the entire

Urgent Care Clinic staff for allowing me to shadow
them every Tuesday and Thursday for the 2019
Fall Semester of ISM and for the professionalism
they exhibited with me, never talking or treating
me like a high schooler but like a real medical
student who was learning the ropes. As well as
thank you to my evaluators for grading me on my
project after school on a Monday, right before
finals.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AAUCM. “What Is Urgent Care Medicine?” What Is Urgent Care Medicine?, AAUCM, aaucm.org/what-is-urgent-care-medicine/.

Accessed 21 November 2019

Alkon, Cheryl. "What's behind the growth of urgent care clinics?" Medical Economics, 10 Sept. 2018, p. 23+. Gale Health and

Wellness, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A558017375/HWRC?u=j084910009&sid=HWRC&xid=0676dc31. Accessed 31

Oct. 2019

“Emergency Room, Urgent Care or Primary Care Physician?” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 7 Feb.

2018, health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2018-02-07/emergency-room-urgent-care-or-primary-care-

physician

Fay, Bill. “Emergency Room vs. Urgent Care: Differences, Costs & Options.” Debt.org, 12 Nov. 2019,

www.debt.org/medical/emergency-room-urgent-care-costs/.
CONT.

“Guide to Navigating an Urgent Care Visit Without Insurance.” Solvhealth.com, 14 Jan. 2019,

www.solvhealth.com/blog/guide-to-navigating-an-urgent-care-visit-without-insurance.

Mukamel, Dana B. "Patients' preferences over care settings for minor illnesses and injuries." Health

Services Research, Aug. 2019, p. 827+. Gale Health and Wellness,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A595705935/HWRC?u=j084910009&sid=HWRC&xid=d4605747.

Accessed 25 Oct. 2019.

Urgent Clinics Medical Care. “Services.” Urgent Clinics Medical Care,

www.urgentclinicsmedicalcare.com/service/. Accessed November 2019.