Primary or Urgent Care - The Differences

Primary care is the type of healthcare that you get from your doctor most of the time. Urgent care is when you go to see a doctor because you have an illness or injury that is not very serious, and it is not during the hours that your regular doctor is open.

Primary care

• Primary care generally refers to a doctor's office. The hours are set and they do not work on the weekends.

• Most physicians' offices have appointments that people need to follow. If someone needs to be seen, they might have to wait for an open appointment or they might have to share an appointment with someone else and wait a long time.

• A physician's office usually charges a set price for different services. This price is what they charge the insurance company.

• Generally, when you leave the doctor's office, you have to pay a co-pay. This is a set price that you have to pay.

• Primary care physicians are not just general family care doctors. They can also include specialist physicians like dermatologists, gynecologists, and neurologists.

• When you have an appointment, you will be called back when it is your time.

Urgent care

• One difference between urgent care and a hospital is that urgent care centers often have later hours and are open on weekends. They are not usually open twenty-four hours a day.

• If a person becomes ill or injured, their primary care physician will generally not be able to see them that day. If they need to be seen right away, they can go to an urgent care center without making an appointment. Unless the urgent care center is very busy, the wait time to be seen should not be too long.

• One downside of this type of medical facility is that they often charge more for their services.

• Even if the patient has insurance, they may have to pay a lot more than they usually do because the facility offers specialized services.

•Urgent care medical facilities have physicians who are general family doctors. They deal with basic illnesses and injuries. They do not specialize in any particular area.

•People at the emergency room will see you, but they might not be able to see you right away. They might have to help people who are more hurt or sick than you are.