This summer promises many fun days in the sun, but for many families, summer will also mean broken bones and other scrapes and scraps that are a part of active children. When the inevitable happens, many families head to the emergency room as a matter of course. Today, though, there is another option available: urgent care centers.

Urgent care clinics have grown more popular over the last decade and have introduced a new and lucrative player to the healthcare field. Unlike the emergency room, patients are treated quickly. For non-life threatening ailments, many people in emergency rooms now wait about four hours to see a doctor. An urgent care facility typically sees patients within 20 minutes of their arrival.

Another advantage urgent care for kids has over the emergency room is price. While emergency room visits cost an average of about $1,500, urgent cares are, on average, about $150. The difference in cost can be seen in how much an individual procedure is billed for; a middle ear infection will cost about $500 in treatment at the emergency room, compared to $100 at an urgent care center.

What can an urgent care help you with this summer? Here are three instances where you can avoid a trip to the emergency room.

Stitches

If you go to the emergency room for a few stitches after someone falls on the swingset and gets a gash on the knee, you might end up with sticker shock; treatment for even something as simple as sutures can end up costing you hundreds of dollars. An urgent care can fix you up without billing you an arm and a leg.

Broken Bone

Did you know that about 15% of all injuries that children experience are bone fractures? Broken bones are often a part of childhood, for better or for worse. It’s important to have a bone set right if it does break — this will for allow proper healing and correct growth as the child grows. An urgent care facility, which will have diagnostic equipment such as x-ray machines, can take care of broken bones and help with follow-up appointments as well.

Burns

Summer is the season for backyard fires, and backyard fires sometimes lead to burns. Many parents realize belatedly the danger of not just fire, but hot ashes and poker sticks as well. Urgent care facilities can help treat skin burns and give prescriptions for the necessary medication and painkillers needed for treatment.

Would you visit an urgent care facility if something went wrong? Let us know in the comments.
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