You’re going about your workday when you notice that something just doesn’t feel right. Your head is aching, your body feels unusually tense and sore, and your throat is sporting a nagging tickle that is making it hard to comfortably swallow. You try taking some over-the-counter pain medication to alleviate your symptoms, but nothing seems to work. Rather than subject yourself to additional suffering, you decide to call your doctor’s office and ask to be seen on your way home from work. However, no sooner do you utter the words “emergency appointment” when the receptionist on the other end of the line tells you that you can’t be squeezed in.
“So then what should I do?” you ask in frustration. “I’m obviously sick, and it seems like whatever’s bothering me is only going to get worse.” At that point, the voice on the line gives you the sugar-coated version of “not my problem” and suggests that you consider hopping over to the local emergency room if you’re truly feeling that bad.
Believe it or not, this type of scenario is common among patients whose primary care physicians tend to be overbooked and understaffed. Unfortunately, those who find themselves afflicted with sudden illnesses tend to wind up in a bit of a Catch-22 situation: They couldn’t predict and schedule their sick appointments in advance, but they also don’t want to deal with the hassles of visiting the ER.
Fortunately, there is an additional option for those faced with this type of predicament. If you’re ever in a situation where your regular doctor can’t see you and you’re not necessarily in bad enough shape to go to an ER, then you may want to consider going to a walk-in express clinic instead. Dr. Davis Cloward is a physician at Doctors Express, a High Point, North Carolina express clinic that caters to everything from everyday ailments to injuries and trauma, and according to him, the purpose of a walk-in clinic is not to deter you from going to your primary care physician, but rather, to help you out when your doctor cannot squeeze you in.
Remember, your regular doctor can only do so much if his office is truly loaded with patients who made their appointments in advance or managed to show up before your sudden illness started to come into the picture. Even those medical professionals who try to make themselves as accessible to patients as possible will sometimes have no choice but to say “no” to a walk-in when the circumstances call for it.
Of course, some might argue that when it comes to treating patients with sudden illnesses, that’s what the emergency room is for. The problem with the ER, however, is that it, too, is often overcrowded and busy right when you need to be seen. If you happen to come down with the flu and can’t see your regular doctor, then you could end up subjecting yourself to a significant wait and a hefty bill by going to your local ER for treatment. For this reason, urgent care facilities like Doctors Express exist to fill the void between your regular doctor’s office and the nearby ER. The benefit of going to a walk-in clinic is that you’re likely to pay less and have a shorter wait than you’d find at a hospital emergency room; and as long as your condition isn’t life-threatening, there’s no need to go to the ER.
The other benefit about express clinics like Doctors Express is that one does not need to wait for an emergency in order to take advantage of the services offered. If a patient would rather walk in at his convenience rather than deal with the hassles of scheduling an appointment at his regular doctor’s office, then he can visit an express clinic for minor issues such as allergies, skin infections, and back pain. Best of all, walk-in clinics like Doctors Express will usually take most forms of health insurance, and the copays are comparable to those that a regular doctor’s office would charge.
If an unexpected illness arrives to throw you for a loop, then don’t suffer in silence just because your regular doctor can’t see you right away. Instead, head to a walk-in express clinic, and bring yourself one step closer to feeling better.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
