Non Emergency Emergencies

When Aunt Pearlie complained of a backache we though maybe some Doan's pills and she'd be back on her feet and eating again. She knew the problem was much worse but we didn't so we delayed treatment. If the experience taught us one thing is that for family, including ourselves, who are afraid of hospitals and dread emergency rooms (ERs) and non-urgent care center in the mall or shopping center is a good send. Some are over crowded because of their limited hours and specialities but may are crowd free. Taking a family member there while out and about or in lieu of a hospital might be a better alternative. If the situation is at all serious an ambulance from their gets you far ahead of the line than a standard ER walk-in (this is only our anecdotal experience however). According to the latest report in the news (Bloomberg, Reuters, US News & World Report) which miss reads the facts "retail clinics" are a good choice for sore throats, earaches and urinary tract infection. Here's what they actually say according to the editors of Annals of Internal Medicine: "Little is known about retail clinics in the United States. Contribution - The investigators found that nearly all U.S. retail clinics offer care for common symptoms (such as sore throat and cough), immunizations, and routine screening tests (such as lipid and glucose levels). Most are in urban locations, and about half are in 4 states. The investigators estimate that one third of the U.S. population resides within a 10-minute driving distance of a retail clinic. Caution - The findings apply only to retail clinics operating in 2008. Implication - About one third of the U.S. population resides near a retail clinic that provides basic acute and preventive care."

While some Clinics use residents rather than interns physicians we are of the "doctor is a doctor is a doctor" school of medicine in that unless you can get in to see your doctor when you want to see your doctor without a substantial wait time you don't know what you're going to get from the ER or the hospital when you walk in. Again just using our own experience we've had ambulances called from clinics where the doctors live by the "don't sue us school of medicine" where over care is better than under care any day. Our own physicians have never called an ambulance for us (again our experiences are all anecdotal) so your mileage may vary.