Last week, an Op-Ed by CareWell’s CEO detailing how urgent care centers are an important part of the national challenge to lower health care costs and raise the quality of care was published in the Cape Cod Times.
The CareWell Urgent Care Center in S. Dennis, MA is a great example of this. Since October, it has saved health insurance companies covering Cape Cod residents approximately $584,000. Since that time, our center has treated about 730 people who would have likely otherwise sought care for their non-life threatening injuries and illnesses at a hospital emergency room.
There, they most likely would have waited hours for care while patients with life-threatening injuries and conditions were treated. And the final bill sent to insurers would have been hundreds of dollars more than what it costs at any CareWell Urgent Care center .
A 2010 RAND Company report found that emergency departments are overwhelmed with non-life threatening and urgent medical visits that can be taken care of with less cost and greater efficiency by urgent care centers. When there are options other than a hospital emergency room for non-life threatening urgent care needs that arise after hours, everyone’s health care experience—both that of the doctor providing care and that of the patient receiving it—improves. Faster, more efficient, less stressful care contributes to better health outcomes. Meanwhile, costs go down.
When your three-year-old complains of ear pain and has spiked a fever – after dinner, at 6:30 pm on a Tuesday – where are you going to go for care? The pediatrician’s office will most likely be closed. Your only option for immediate treatment would seem to be a hospital emergency room where your wait is likely to be measured in hours instead of minutes; where your co-pay is likely to be anywhere from twice to five times as that of an office visit; and where the ultimate cost of treatment is likely to be much greater than it would have been in a doctor’s office.
Urgent care centers offer another option. They are staffed by doctors and nurses and equipped to handle non-life threatening urgent care needs—such as an ear infection, a wound requiring stitches, flu or pneumonia, or even immediate treatment for a broken bone.
As we seek to cut costs from the health care system while maintaining the quality of health care and patient satisfaction, we have to consider alternatives.
Urgent care centers are part of the solution.
Until next week, Stay Well!