5 Questions to Ask an Urgent Care Clinic

Patients do not need an appointment to receive medical care at an urgent care clinic. An urgent care clinic is a convenient alternative that is available for individuals to see a doctor for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries that require medical care within a 24-hour period. Urgent care clinics run on a first-come, first-served basis although some symptoms may bump patients to the front of the list if their illness or injury is serious and requires immediate medical attention. Patients can also seek the services of an urgent care clinic when they are unable to get into their primary care physician for several days. Urgent care clinics typically operate on extended hours so may be available in the evening and on weekends for individuals who can’t make it to their family doctor during standard office hours. If you have a life-threatening illness or injury, please proceed to the closest emergency room. An urgent care clinic does have the ability to transfer patients to an emergency room via ambulance if needed but this can add time to a potentially critical situation.

Urgent care clinics employ highly qualified general practitioners who can diagnose and treat a vast assortment of illnesses and injuries. Most urgent care clinics also have laboratory services and an x-ray lab on site to be able to provide additional services required for a more accurate diagnosis and treatment plan, without the patient having to go to a separate clinic for additional tests. Depending on the clinic, there might also be pediatric and orthopedic doctors on rotation as doctors can pick up extra hours around their regular clinic hours at urgent care clinics. Rest assured that you will receive the proper medical care for your condition at an urgent care clinic or will be referred to a specialist who can provide you with further care if needed.

Columbia Clinic Urgent Care accepts many different insurance plans, check the list on our website for the insurance coverage that we accept. If you don’t have insurance coverage, we do offer a discount for patients without coverage to help lessen the financial burden of receiving medical care. While we try to keep our website list updated, it can change from time to time, so it is best to check with your individual insurance provider to ensure that your current insurance plan does cover urgent care visits. They can also let you know if they only cover visits to specific clinics, and who those clinics are. There may be a deductible or co-pay that you are required to cover out of pocket, but your insurance provider can let you know if that is the case and what that amount would typically be.

We provide medical care services for a wide range of non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries. We can help patients who need medical attention that can’t wait several days for an appointment with their primary care physician but also isn’t an emergency that requires a trip to the emergency room. Urgent care clinics are a convenient alternative for ailments such as infections, migraines, sore throat, cold or flu symptoms, ear, and eye infections, pulled or strained muscles, sprains or fractures, cuts, bruises and burns, and any other non-life-threatening illness or injury that requires medical attention. With our on-site laboratory, we are able to perform tests for a variety of infections to get you quickly diagnosed and provided you with a treatment plan to get you feeling better as quickly as possible.

Urgent care clinics provide care to individuals in need of non-life-threatening care when they are unable to get in to see their primary care physician for several days, outside of typical doctor office hours, without bogging down the emergency room. This allows the emergency rooms to remain focused on life-threatening, serious illnesses and injuries. Urgent care centers are also typically faster to get through for medical care, as well as less expensive. If you have a life-threatening illness or injury, you should go to your nearest emergency room for immediate medical attention.

For more information about our urgent care clinic services, contact us or visit us online to book an appointment. We serve patients from Tibbetts St Portland, Milwaukie OR, Oak Grove OR, Stark Street Portland, Fairview OR, Happy Valley OR, Gladstone OR, Cedar Mill OR, Tibbetts Street Portland OR, West Linn OR, Aloha OR, Tigard OR, Lake Oswego OR, Tualatin OR, Oregon City OR.