From free STD testing clinics to a reliable neighborhood walk in clinic, there are many reasons that people are searching for access to affordable health care such as the above mentioned. For those without health insurance, scheduling an appointment with a general care practitioner is often, unfortunately, out of the question. This is also often true for busy people as well, as it can be difficult to find the opportunity or the ability to take a day off of work, and most general care doctor’s offices are only open during the typical work week. This means that many people seek out the emergency room as their only form of medical care, something that is both a time and a money suck.

In fact, the average wait time in the typical emergency room in the United States has now increased to be nearly one hour long, up from the mean wait time of just over forty six minutes in the year 2003. This means that even for a very minor condition that could be assessed, diagnosed, and fully treated in under half an hour, patients will often sit for immense stretches of time. An urgent care center (such as free STD testing clinics or urgent care centers geared towards general care and health services), on the other hand, has an average wait time of only a fraction of the wait time typically experienced in any emergency room. In fact, as many as sixty percent of all urgent care centers and free health clinics have a wait time of around fifteen minutes only. In fact, the average patient is in and out of free STD testing clinics in as little as one hour, all paid up and ready to get back to their often busy day. It’s also true that many urgent care centers and STD testing clinics are considerably less expensive than even just one emergency room visit, which, on average, costs more than one thousand dollars per stay, if not more than that. On the other hand, a walk in health clinic typically charges no more than two hundred dollars for their services, even for those who are without medical insurance. This means that accessible health care and treatment options are available to an even wider group of people than ever before.

So what do urgent care clinics and STD testing clinics treat? Well, it’s obvious for the latter. STD testing clinics should be visited by anyone who is sexually active, has had multiple partners, and has never been tested before. The tests administered at STD testing clinics are pain free and have quick results, which is often ideal for someone going through an STD scare and looking for fast answers. STD testing clinics will often offer services such as pregnancy testing. Free pregnancy testing options in particular are common in the average STD testing clinic. STD testing centers are extremely valuable, as they allow people to know their status in a relatively easy, time efficient manner. It doesn’t hurt that these clinics are often free as well.

More typical urgent care facilities will provide a wide array of medical treatments, from diagnosing and treating minor illnesses such as ear infections, which commonly affect young children, to performing skin assessments, as skin cancer rates have tripled in the years since 1975, urgent care facilities can pretty much do it all. Many a medical walk in clinic can even treat more serious injuries and illnesses such as fractures and dehydration, as many of these clinic have the capability to perform an x ray or hook up an IV to dispense the necessary fluids.