As you probably already know, urgent care clinics exist to fill a gap between going to your own doctor and the E.R. Such clinics are perfect for scenarios like when your child gets hurt riding a bike or suddenly develops a rash, and your doctor’s office is either full or close. It’s for those late nights when your child has a fever, yet you don’t want to go to the emergency room.
If you haven’t been to an urgent care clinic, you probably have a lot of questions on your mind about them. Well, you are in the right place as your trusted clinic for kids urgent care in Vestavia, AL, shares some of the things you need to know about pediatric urgent care clinics:
Pediatric Urgent Care Is Different from Pediatric Emergency Care
Urgent care clinics are meant to take care of non-life-threatening injuries, illnesses, and infections than an ER. The latter takes care of emergencies, such as chest pain, trauma, or burns. At urgent care clinics, you are likely to deal with doctors and nurses who are more experienced in urgent care than in the ER.
Pediatric Urgent Care Clinics Accept Patients Up to 21 Years Old
Most urgent care clinics are open to children up to 21 years old. Usually, there are no age caps, but this won’t mean adults will be accepted in them. Urgent care clinics are not free-standing emergency rooms, and they are intended to take care of non-life-threatening injuries, illnesses, and infections. If a patient is severely injured or ill and needs emergency care, they will immediately be referred to the ER.
Some Pediatric Urgent Care Clinics Take Specific Types of Insurance and Not Others
There are urgent care clinics that are in-network and those that are not. It’s impossible to list each and every network and its coverage. You need to call your insurance company and ask if your clinic and doctors are in-network or out of network.
Some Urgent Care Clinics Can Provide Other Services
Following are some of the other services that some urgent care clinics provide:
- Lab Tests – Your doctor may need some lab tests done to determine the actual cause of your child’s illness. Some clinics are not set up to perform these tests, so patients are typically referred to a hospital for the tests, but some urgent care clinics offer them.
- X-Rays – Same goes for x-rays. Sometimes the doctor needs x-rays to determine the cause of the injury. It is easier to take x-rays at urgent care clinics than in a hospital, but your doctor might still send you to the hospital for them.
- Pharmacy – Some urgent care clinics work with pharmacies to provide prescription drugs.
Conclusion
To sum up, you need to know that pediatric urgent care clinics are set up to deal with basic scenarios when your doctor is not available, but you don’t want to take your child to the ER, and you don’t want to wait for your pediatrician’s office to call you back.
You may never need to go to a pediatric urgent care clinic, but you need to be prepared if you do. Be sure to call your insurance company first and ask the hotline agent if the urgent care clinics you are planning to visit are in-network. Also, if your child has a serious illness, it is best to go to the ER first.
If you have any other urgent care questions, contact your preferred clinic for kids urgent care in Vestavia Hills, AL.
Your Kids Urgent Care is among the trusted clinics for children’s urgent care in Vestavia, AL, that you can trust if you need a health professional to see your child immediately. Contact us today to know more about our urgent care services!
