An urgent care clinic is where you can go to get your child immediate treatment for a non-life-threatening medical emergency. If you want to know what conditions the healthcare professionals at the pediatric urgent care clinic can treat, reach out to the urgent care facility beforehand or place a call to check.
Not all pediatric urgent care clinics are created equal. Some are going to be better equipped and have emergency medicine physicians on staff, which widens the range of conditions that they can treat. What all pediatric urgent care centers share is standard operational procedures – their great advantage when compared to hospital emergency rooms.
Here’s what you can expect when you arrive with your child at a pediatric urgent care clinic.
Short Wait Times
Emergency rooms are notorious for long wait times. If your child does not have a life-threatening emergency, you can expect a long wait time, as care is given based on the emergency, not the order in which patients arrive. At pediatric urgent care clinics, there is little or no wait time, since conditions treated are not life-threatening. Average wait times in urgent care clinics are between 15 to 30 minutes.
A Relaxed Atmosphere
Waiting in an emergency room subjects you to the specter of people being rushed in for serious medical conditions. There is a chance that you and your child will see some very sick and severely injured people in the ER – people who are in great pain. The sights and sounds can be traumatizing for a child. Since pediatric urgent care clinics treat non-life-threatening conditions, the atmosphere is more calm and relaxed, similar to a primary care physician’s office. You should save trips to the emergency room for true medical emergencies.
Specialized Care
The healthcare providers at pediatric urgent care clinics are highly experienced in treating children. Most pediatric patients are not able to communicate like adults about what they are feeling and how to adequately describe their symptoms. Pediatric urgent care providers are skilled at communicating with children at their level, using appropriate terms. They know how to make their young patients warm up to them and make them feel comfortable, so they can diagnose and treat them.
Lower Healthcare Costs
You’ve heard of or probably experienced the astronomical fees that emergency rooms charge patients – even if you decline treatment, you can still be charged a fee. You can save money by going to an urgent care center. The average cost of a visit to a pediatric urgent care clinic is significantly less than what an ER can charge, which is between $100 to $200 without insurance. A typical copay is about $75. Check with your insurance provider to find out the exact cost to you.
Pediatric Urgent Care in Fairless Hills, PA
Patient Care Now Urgent Care is a well-equipped urgent care clinic with a staff of compassionate emergency medicine physicians and medical staff who are experienced in treating pediatric patients.
We can treat a huge variety of medical conditions and injuries due to the expertise of our emergency medicine physicians. We even treat orthopedic injuries and other conditions that are traditionally treated in ERs. Our urgent care providers will communicate with your child’s pediatrician to ensure they are sent a report of our diagnosis and treatment plan.
Since we are an urgent care clinic, there is no need to make an appointment. Simply walk into our clinic at 541 S. Oxford Valley Road. We are open daily, including all holidays. For any questions, call (267) 202-6433 or use our online form to check-in.