Family

Fast Care Medical Clinics Live Up To Their Name

The winter cold and flu season has hit my wife hard. Recently, she was down for several days battling the flu. Unfortunately, just as she was getting back on her feet, she caught a cold. She fought her way through a couple of days treating it as a minor annoyance, however she woke up Monday totally drained of energy, a sore throat, and her chest and sinuses congested.

Fearing she had strep throat, she wanted to seek medical attention.

This declaration instantly gave me visions of sitting in our primary care physician’s waiting room for the standard 30-45 minutes past the time of the appointment just to be seen. Plus, we’d have to inconveniently drive all the way across our city just to get to the clinic. Sensing my thoughts, my wife said, “Why don’t we go to that fast care place where we got our flu shots?"

Her suggestion to go to the fast care center was pure gold.

The nearest fast care center  is located much closer to our home than our primary care physician’s clinic. The center is staffed by a receptionist and a certified nurse practitioner. Since the center is actually associated with our primary care physician, they take our insurance. Interestingly, they only accept walk in patients so you can guestimate how long your wait will be by simply looking at the number of people in the waiting room, which on this day was exactly zero.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

While my wife was being examined (she was called back as soon as she filled out the insurance paperwork), I read through the list services provided, which included the most common reasons people visit the doctor:

• Allergies
• Bug Bites
• Cold and Flu Symptoms
• Ear Infections
• Minor Burns
• Pregnancy Test
• Rapid Strep Test
• Sinus Infections
• Sore Throat
• Sports and Camp Physicals

The sign said the center provided low cost medical services, but the prices listed were exactly the same as our primary care physician’s main clinic.

The savings here is time. In the few minutes it took me to gather information regarding services and prices, my wife was back. Rapid strep test was negative,  recommended course of action was to pick up some maximum strength decongestant for daytime, Nyquil for nighttime, plenty of rest and liquids.

I’ve spent countless hours sitting in the waiting room while a member of my family waited to be seen for some common ailment. I shook my head as I wondered why I hadn’t utilized the fast care center before.

Have you ever used a fast care center? Did you find the quality of treatment equal? Was it faster than going to your primary care physician?