This is the season of days at the lake, evenings at the ball field, and visits to local family quick care clinic.

For some reason, summers kind of work that way. Families are more active and as a result more accidents happen, and even though it is the summer there are still many colds and other viruses that can put a wrench in a summer vacation plans and other scheduled activities. A visit to a walk in family quick care clinic can be the perfect solution. No waiting for an appointment, getting a quick diagnosis, and going on your way is just what the best summers are made of.
Medical walk in clinics not only offer a convenient care platform for families. They also provide a way for many patients to get the convenient, affordable care that they need. From STD testing centers to locations that provide x-rays and fracture care services, there are many people who are opting for low cost health clinics instead of an expensive hospital emergency room visit. In addition, these affordable urgent care services are easier to get into than a family or pediatric physician office.

The Nation’s Health Care Options Continue to Expand

Whether you are a family who is vacationing hours from home or you are in town at a summer softball game, more and more patients are looking for affordable, convenient, and reliable health care. And while an injury a decade ago may have meant an expensive visit to a hospital emergency room or a long wait at a family physician’s office, this is no longer the case. Given that the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey recently reported that the average ER visitor pays total costs of $1,318 and a mean cost of $615, it should come as no surprise that these kinds of visits are not the ideal solution for a non emergency situation.

Worse yet, the mean wait time in ERs went up by 25% between the years 2003 and 2009. This means that patients seeking care were waiting 58.1 minutes in 2009 instead of the already long 46.5 minutes on 2003. Waiting for nearly an hour for an x-ray to determine if a bone is broken is simply not acceptable to most health consumers.

The next time you find yourself in a situation where you are in need of quick health clinic before you leave on a family vacation, make sure that you select the most affordable and convenient option.