USC clinic Los Angeles is the best urgent care center in the area. This place is right for you if you are looking for immediate medical attention at odd hours. The urgent care centers have all the resources essential to provide quality medical care at any point of time. Having said that, the urgent care centers are not the best place when you are suffering from a life-threatening disease. In such a situation you need to visit the emergency room near you.
Points comparing urgent care centers and emergency rooms:
Usually people tend to think of urgent care centers and emergency rooms as one and the same thing. However, the fact is that both urgent care centers and emergency rooms vary on different basis. Following are the key points that will compare urgent care centers to emergency rooms:
-
Conditions in which patients are seen
The urgent care centers are best for treating non-life threatening illnesses. On the contrary, emergency rooms are a must for life-threatening diseases. Non-life threatening diseases can be mild fever, minor injuries from accident, nausea, etc while life threatening situations will be cardiac arrest, major injury, multiple fractures and similar conditions. This differentiation in treatment arises mainly because of the level of resources available at urgent care centers and emergency rooms.
-
Wait time
The urgent care centers are open at all hours with sufficient space to treat number of patients. Also because the urgent care centers are only treating non-life threatening illnesses, this place comes with a benefit of a shorter wait time. When you are visiting an emergency room, the place has a longer wait time. Sometimes this longer waiting period can become one of the reasons for delay in treatment and medical complications.
-
Cost
The urgent care center has a smaller facility with the necessary resources to treat urgent but non-life threatening conditions. This is a reason behind the urgent care centers charging a lesser fee. On the other hand, emergency rooms are a bigger facility with a bigger team of medical professionals. Accordingly, the cost of emergency rooms is higher in comparison to urgent care centers.
-
Overnight stays
Another key difference between the two places is that the urgent care centers to do provide overnight stays while the emergency rooms do. Depending on the medical condition, one must take this particular aspect under consideration when deciding to visit any of these.
Final note:
Depending on your health condition, you must choose a place that is right for the best treatment. While both the urgent care centers and the emergency rooms provide medical services, the role of each is different. Now that you understand the pros and cons of both the places, it will be easier to decide what is right. Just be sure that you are visiting the USC urgent care center when you are suffering from a non-life threatening illness.