6 ms·

Where I live there are both. The word on the street (thankfully no firsthand experience) is to pay attention to the name if you go there for a sprained ankle. I

Where I live there are both. The word on the street (thankfully no firsthand experience) is to pay attention to the name if you go there for a sprained ankle. If it says "emergency" in the name, you're going to pay a LOT more.

chrisseaton 8y ago
Why would you go to an emergency room for a sprained ankle anyway? Doesn't seem like an emergency.
- gowld 8y ago
  Because you might not be an expert in technical medical lingo, so you go to the nearest place with doctors.
- dragontamer 8y ago
  Actually, a lot of people go to "emergency rooms" for rudimentary care. I'd bet that most people don't know the difference between "Urgent Care" and "Emergency Rooms".
- justinph 8y ago
  Do people get a lot of education on what constitutes an emergency vs what can be treated at an urgent care? I certainly don't remember getting taught much. In my experience, an Urgent Care feels more like a screening room to real medicine than a place where treatments can occur. If you think you're sick, you might just go to the ER because they have everything there.
  - Spooky23 8y ago
    Many people lack the knowledge about what an ER is for. If they don’t learn in their own, the bill and the experience teaches them quickly. ER is for critical issues. If you have time to think about where you should go, it’s probably not the ER. ER is like 40% serious stuff and 60% bullshit. My brother is a fireman — there are even people who use it as a cheap, high latency way to get a free cab voucher. Urgent care is a place to deal with lesser acute issues that cannot wait for you to go to a primary care doctor.
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    An urgent care is largely for things where you would see your primary care physician, but they are closed, on vacation, or don't have appointments available (urgent cares usually can do more treatment and diagnosis on site than your PCP, but your PCP would screen and refer) without excessive delay. An ER is largely for “I might imminently die if this issue isn't addressed”. Not necessarily an imminently life threatening condition, but symptoms that suggest that might reasonably be the case. For doubtful cases, if your primary care physician (usually, their medical group) has a 24-hour nurse advice line, it's good to call them (both for direction, and often because they need to authorize urgent care, so calling them first avoids delays.)
- analog31 8y ago
  In my view, there should be no need for such a distinction, unless it's to conduct some sort of financial chicanery. I once went to the ER for something. When I walked in, I went to a desk, where a person asked me some questions and directed me down a corridor to an urgent care facility on the same premises.
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    > I once went to the ER for something. When I walked in, I went to a desk, where a person asked me some questions and directed me down a corridor to an urgent care facility on the same premises. I've had that happen as a Kaiser patient at a Kaiser hospital, but not seen it otherwise. As I understand, it's rare because: (1) colocated ER and UC are rare, (2) even when they are present, they may be distinct businesses such that one cannot rely on the other, (3) ER mandates create liability if a person needs medical stabilization and is turned away without seeing a doctor on-duty in the ER. Where they occur, I think it is because the urgent care is actually legally conjoined to the ER, such that the cross-referral from triage is still within the ER from a regulatory standpoint.
  - masonic 8y ago
    When I walked in If you were ambulatory and not bleeding or in other visible distress, that's basic triage. What we now call Urgent Care used to be called "Ambulatory Emergency" by Kaiser in the 1970s.
    - analog31 8y ago
      Indeed, and I think the ability to triage incoming patients can be part of the model for how an emergency facility works.
- jrochkind1 8y ago
  In general, why would a _patient_ be expected to know what's an emergency and what isn't? Isn't that health care professionals' job to determine? Some things might be obvious (although what seems obvious isn't to everyone equally), but in general, there are lots of times I have no idea if something is an emergency or not. That's what I want a doctor to tell me! If you make people (sick/injured people at that) choose themselves, guarantee they are going to choose wrong sometimes in both directions -- including something that really _was_ an emergency, and they avoided the emergency room through lack of medical knowledge or fear of being billed for it, and suffer harm by lack of timely proper care.
- adrianmonk 8y ago
  Because there's a standalone emergency room located in the shopping center by your house, and you don't realize it isn't just an urgent care center. Which in turn is probably because only a few years ago, emergency rooms were essentially only located in hospitals, and you don't realize anything has changed.

chrisseaton 8y ago

Why would you go to an emergency room for a sprained ankle anyway? Doesn't seem like an emergency.

gowld 8y ago
Because you might not be an expert in technical medical lingo, so you go to the nearest place with doctors.
dragontamer 8y ago
Actually, a lot of people go to "emergency rooms" for rudimentary care. I'd bet that most people don't know the difference between "Urgent Care" and "Emergency Rooms".
justinph 8y ago
Do people get a lot of education on what constitutes an emergency vs what can be treated at an urgent care? I certainly don't remember getting taught much. In my experience, an Urgent Care feels more like a screening room to real medicine than a place where treatments can occur. If you think you're sick, you might just go to the ER because they have everything there.
- Spooky23 8y ago
  Many people lack the knowledge about what an ER is for. If they don’t learn in their own, the bill and the experience teaches them quickly. ER is for critical issues. If you have time to think about where you should go, it’s probably not the ER. ER is like 40% serious stuff and 60% bullshit. My brother is a fireman — there are even people who use it as a cheap, high latency way to get a free cab voucher. Urgent care is a place to deal with lesser acute issues that cannot wait for you to go to a primary care doctor.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  An urgent care is largely for things where you would see your primary care physician, but they are closed, on vacation, or don't have appointments available (urgent cares usually can do more treatment and diagnosis on site than your PCP, but your PCP would screen and refer) without excessive delay. An ER is largely for “I might imminently die if this issue isn't addressed”. Not necessarily an imminently life threatening condition, but symptoms that suggest that might reasonably be the case. For doubtful cases, if your primary care physician (usually, their medical group) has a 24-hour nurse advice line, it's good to call them (both for direction, and often because they need to authorize urgent care, so calling them first avoids delays.)
analog31 8y ago
In my view, there should be no need for such a distinction, unless it's to conduct some sort of financial chicanery. I once went to the ER for something. When I walked in, I went to a desk, where a person asked me some questions and directed me down a corridor to an urgent care facility on the same premises.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > I once went to the ER for something. When I walked in, I went to a desk, where a person asked me some questions and directed me down a corridor to an urgent care facility on the same premises. I've had that happen as a Kaiser patient at a Kaiser hospital, but not seen it otherwise. As I understand, it's rare because: (1) colocated ER and UC are rare, (2) even when they are present, they may be distinct businesses such that one cannot rely on the other, (3) ER mandates create liability if a person needs medical stabilization and is turned away without seeing a doctor on-duty in the ER. Where they occur, I think it is because the urgent care is actually legally conjoined to the ER, such that the cross-referral from triage is still within the ER from a regulatory standpoint.
- masonic 8y ago
  When I walked in If you were ambulatory and not bleeding or in other visible distress, that's basic triage. What we now call Urgent Care used to be called "Ambulatory Emergency" by Kaiser in the 1970s.
  - analog31 8y ago
    Indeed, and I think the ability to triage incoming patients can be part of the model for how an emergency facility works.
jrochkind1 8y ago
In general, why would a _patient_ be expected to know what's an emergency and what isn't? Isn't that health care professionals' job to determine? Some things might be obvious (although what seems obvious isn't to everyone equally), but in general, there are lots of times I have no idea if something is an emergency or not. That's what I want a doctor to tell me! If you make people (sick/injured people at that) choose themselves, guarantee they are going to choose wrong sometimes in both directions -- including something that really _was_ an emergency, and they avoided the emergency room through lack of medical knowledge or fear of being billed for it, and suffer harm by lack of timely proper care.
adrianmonk 8y ago
Because there's a standalone emergency room located in the shopping center by your house, and you don't realize it isn't just an urgent care center. Which in turn is probably because only a few years ago, emergency rooms were essentially only located in hospitals, and you don't realize anything has changed.