When you get sick, you probably can’t find time to go to the doctor. Health care has become like everything else — an afterthought to work and family demands. What if you could walk in and see a doctor whenever you wanted? After work or on a Sunday? When it’s convenient for you?
Many people expect health care to be easily accessible. They don’t want to take time off work to see a doctor. They want an appointment the same day, not days or weeks later. That’s part of the rationale for urgent care centers, a rapidly growing industry in Atlanta and nationally.
An urgent care center is walk-in based; no need for an appointment. It typically offers extended hours, including weekends. It is often in a major retail center, near your grocery or drug store.
Tenet Healthcare is opening several urgent care centers in the Atlanta area. In January, Urgent Care-Atlanta Medical Center opened on Camp Creek Parkway. We will also open two centers affiliated with North Fulton Hospital — one in May off Atlanta Highway in Alpharetta, and another in August in the Crabapple section of Alpharetta. Plans are to develop 10 centers around metro Atlanta in the next two years.
Urgent care centers are not new, but their need is greater. People who don’t have insurance generally cannot afford to see a private practice physician. Instead, they may suffer through a flu or cold. Many go to emergency rooms when they are sick, relying on it for primary care. When the Affordable Care Act kicks in next year, we can expect to see an influx of people who suddenly have health insurance but no physician. They are likely to go to urgent care centers.
There are also people who are insured, but just don’t take time to seek a primary care doctor. They wait until they get sick, but by that point, they’re not likely to get a doctor’s appointment the same day. An urgent care center offers convenience.
The savings generated by urgent care centers are potentially substantial. A 2010 RAND Corporation study found that between 14 and 27 percent of all emergency room visits in the U.S. could be treated at urgent care centers or retail clinics, saving about $4.4 billion a year.
This is partly why Tenet is investing in urgent care centers, staffed by licensed providers trained in emergency, family or internal medicine. And you may be able to get needed testing and laboratory work done all in one location.
Urgent care centers are not intended to replace emergency rooms. If you are having a heart attack or stroke or have been in a traumatic accident, go to the hospital. Centers treat minor illnesses and injuries — upper respiratory conditions, flu symptoms, gastrointestinal illnesses, dehydration and broken bones.
Hopefully, you won’t need to go to the doctor. But if you do, it’s nice to know you can go when it’s convenient for you.
