\n\tYou’ve got kids, so chances are you’ve spent a fraught hour or four (or more) waiting for on-the-spot care in an emergency room. But did you really have to be there?<\/p>\n
\n\tAccording to a 2010 RAND Corporation study, about 17 percent of all visits to hospital emergency departments nationwide could potentially be treated at retail-based health clinics or urgent care centers. According to the same study, skipping the ER trip could save consumers an estimated $4.4 billion annually.<\/p>\n
\t\tDoctors Express<\/a> \t\tGo-Care at Abby Medical<\/a> \t\tMedExpress Urgent Care<\/a> \t\tDover Walk-In Care Center<\/strong> \t\tNew Castle Walk-In Care Center<\/strong> \t\tWilmington Walk-In Care Centers<\/strong> \n\t“When you’re home with a fever, a sore throat or an earache at 8pm on Friday, what do you do?” asks Richard Snyder, MD, chief medical officer of Independence Blue Cross<\/a> (IBC) in Philadelphia. “Understanding what kind of care you need is important.”<\/p>\n \n\tParents should take kids to the ER for life-threatening, emergency situations, especially those involving profuse bleeding, unconsciousness and heart attack symptoms. Because the definition of “emergency” can be interpreted in many ways, “There’s a lot of common sense to this,” says Dr. Snyder. “With any injury or illness, if parents feel their child is in imminent danger they should go to the ER.”<\/p>\n \t\t\tAdvanced Urgent Care<\/a> \t\t\tDoctors Best Immediate Medical Care<\/a> \t\t\tDoctors Express<\/a> \t\t\tCarestat Urgent Care<\/a> \t\t\tConcentra Medical Center<\/a> \t\t\tDrexel Conventient Care Center<\/a> \t\t\tEmCare, Inc.<\/a> \t\t\tPioneer Urgent Care<\/a> \t\t\tTemple ReadyCare<\/a> \t\t\t11000 Roosevelt Blvd., Phila.<\/p>\n \t\t\t261 Old York Road, Ste. 215, Jenkintown<\/p>\n \t\t\t515 Pennsylvania Ave., Ft. Washington<\/p>\n \t\t\tValley Forge Urgent Care<\/a> \t\t\tUrgentCare America<\/a> \n\t“We always encourage parents to contact their primary care physician first,” says Nicholas Tsarouhas, MD, medical director of emergency transport at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia<\/a>. “If they feel that waiting even five minutes for their doctor to call back is not prudent, they should call 911.”<\/p>\n \n\t“The best thing is always to talk with their primary care physician first. If a doctor says, ‘I can handle that, let’s make an appointment for tomorrow.’ Great,” says IBC president and CEO Daniel J. Hilferty. “When our members need access to good medical care but their family doctors aren’t available and they don’t want to go to busy, more costly emergency rooms, urgent care centers and retail health clinics provide safe, cost-effective care quickly and conveniently.”<\/p>\n \n\tParents should go to these walk-in facilities, generally open 24\/7 and staffed by board-certified doctors, for non-life-threatening illnesses or injuries that require immediate medical attention. If, say, your child needs stitches for a minor cut, an urgent care center would be a less expensive alternative to the ER.<\/p>\n \tCHOP Urgent Care Atlantic County<\/a> \tCooper Urgent Care Center \tPremier Immediate Medical Care<\/a> \t499 Beckett Rd., \tMedExpress<\/a> \tWillingboro Urgent Care Center<\/strong> \tWoodbury Urgent Care Center<\/strong> \tVirtua Immediate Care Center<\/a> \t401 Young Ave., Moorestown<\/p><\/div>\n \n\tUrgent care centers are a growing trend, with more than 8,700 now open across the country. Because there is a great variability between services offered — for example, some have X-ray capability and others don’t — Dr. Tsarouhas advises parents to research area urgent care centers before a visit is necessary. “You should never walk into an urgent care without a working knowledge of its capabilities and staff,” he says.<\/p>\n \n\tWalk-in retail health clinics, generally staffed by nurses, are an option for minor, uncomplicated illnesses and injuries, as well as for flu shots and vaccinations. A health clinic would be appropriate for treating cold symptoms or a small bruise. Pharmacy-based examples include the CVS Minute Clinic<\/a> and Walgreens’ Healthcare Clinic<\/a> (formerly Take Care Clinic).<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to IBC, a visit to an emergency room for a sore throat could cost up to $750. A visit to an urgent care center or health clinic for the same cause ranges from $110 to $130.<\/p>\n \n\tMetroKids<\/strong> intern Emily DiCicco is a journalism major at Temple University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Urgent care centers and retail walk-in health centers give families alternatives to the emergency room<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[674,521],"tags":[6744,6746,17351,17352,17349,17346,17350,17348,17347],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\t\t2105 A Concord Pike, Wilmington<\/p>\n
\n\t\tOne Centurian Dr., Newark<\/p>\n
\n\t\tNewark Walk-In Care Center<\/strong>
\n\t\t1C Chestnut Hill Plaza,
\n\t\tNewark<\/p>\n
\n\t\t15 S. DuPont Hwy,
\n\t\tDover<\/p>\n
\n\t\t129 N. Dupont Hwy,
\n\t\tNew Castle<\/p>\n
\n\t\t2722 Concord Pike & 3926 Kirkwood Hwy,
\n\t\tWilmington<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\tWhen to go to the . . . emergency room<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\t5058 City Ave., Phila.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t552A Lancaster Ave., Berwyn<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t1444 W Passyunk Ave., Phila.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t1305 West Chester Pike, Havertown<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t2010 Levick St., Phila.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tThe Shops at Liberty Place, Phila.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t100 Witmer Rd., Horsham, PA<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t1572 Wilmington Pike
\n\t\t\t#1, West Chester, PA<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t2301 E. Allegheny Ave., Phila.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t2521 W Main St., Norristown<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t110 E Swedesford Rd., Wayne<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\tWhen to go to an . . . urgent care center<\/h3>\n
\n\t4009 Black Horse Pike,
\n\tMays Landing<\/p>\n
\n\t2001 Marlton Pike E., No. 70,
\n\tCherry Hill<\/p>\n
\n\t1601 Kings Hwy. N., Cherry Hill<\/p>\n
\n\tSte. 102, Swedesboro<\/p>\n
\n\tCinnaminson Urgent Care Center<\/strong>
\n\t1210 Rte. 130N, Ste. 1438., Cinnaminson<\/p>\n
\n\t4318 Rte. 130N, Willingboro<\/p>\n
\n\t875 Mantua Pike, Ste. B, Woodbury<\/p>\n
\n\t239 Hurffville Crosskeys Rd.,
\n\tSte. 160, Sewell<\/p>\n\n\tWhen to go to a . . . retail-based health clinic<\/h3>\n
\n\tDifference in cost?<\/h3>\n