August 1, 2008
Did you know...?
Urgent Care Centers meet the need for convenient access to treatment for minor injuries and illnesses
Urgent Care is the delivery of ambulatory care in a facility dedicated to the delivery of care outside of a hospital emergency department, usually on an unscheduled, walk-in basis. Urgent Care Centers are primarily used to treat patients who have an injury or illness that requires immediate care but is not serious enough to warrant a visit to an emergency room. Urgent Care Centers are often open extended hours but unlike emergency rooms not open 24/7.
The initial urgent care centers opened in the 1970s. Since then this sector of the healthcare industry has rapidly expanded to 17,000+ centers. Many of these centers have been started by entrepreneurial physicians who have responded to the public need for convenient access to unscheduled medical care. Other centers have been opened by hospital systems, seeking to attract patients. Much of the growth of these centers has been fueled by the significant savings that urgent care centers provide over the care in a hospital emergency department. Many managed care organizations now encourage their customers to utilize the urgent care option.
Life or limb threatening illnesses and injuries are best treated at an Emergency department. Emergency departments are prepared to care for patients suffering true emergencies, such as heart attacks, stroke, shock, serious motor vehicle accidents, suicide attempts, and other such life-threatening conditions. Being located within a hospital, these centers are positioned to provide ready access to major surgeries and critical care units. Emergency departments are usually staffed by physicians with specialized training or board certification in emergency medicine.
Many primary care offices are open for some extended hours in the evenings and weekends. However, unless these centers are open for walk-in patients at all times when open for patients, offer on-site x-ray facilities, and care for most simple fractures and lacerations--these primary care physician offices are not considered to be true urgent care centers.
In 2000, medical treatment began to be offered at small offices in retail stores with onsite pharmacies. These centers are generally staffed with nurse practitioners or physician assistants. Prices are generally posted in public view and patients can do shopping while waiting. These retail clinics are not considered true urgent care centers, because of the limited level of care that can be provided without a physician nor do they usually have x-ray facilities on site. Concerns about conflict of interest and incentives to over-prescribe medications in a facility rented from a pharmacy have yet to be fully addressed by organized medicine or governmental agencies.
Urgent Care is an alternative to the emergency room when your primary care physician is not available and your injury or illness needs immediate care but is not life or limb threatening. Urgent Care Centers provide significant savings to patients and insurers over the alternative of hospital emergency departments for episodic care that cannot be delayed until an appointment at a physician office is available. In addition, their scope of treatment is more extensive than retail clinics (in-store clinics located in retail centers such as a drugstore) making the need for transfer (and additional charges and patient inconvenience) to a higher-level facility more unlikely.
***Adult Quick Care, LLC will be opening August 4, 2008 and will be located at 19000 E. Eastland Center Court, Independence MO 64055 (at 291 & 40 Highway across from Costco).
Adult Quick Care offers important benefits including:
o Physician quality care for adults and adolescents age 14 and older at approximately a third of the cost of an emergency room
o Easy access with or without an appointment
o Average visit time under one hour
o Return to your primary care physician for ongoing care
o Accurate and complete billing
o Confidentiality - information is not shared unless you sign a release
Services include: evaluation and treatment of acute illnesses and injuries, preventive health screenings, adult vaccinations, return-to-work evaluations, physical examinations
Hours of operation are Monday - Friday 8am -10pm. No appointment is necessary.
To learn more about Adult Quick Care please call 816-373-9200 or visit www.adultquickcare.com.
*Please feel free to forward this information to any member of management in your company who would benefit from it.*
To view the Tip of the Week in Spanish please visit our Tip of the Week library at http://www.ohscompcare.com/totw/. Please allow a few days for the current Tip of the Week to be translated and placed in to the library.
To learn more about
services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer, contact our Client Services
Team at (816) 561-2105 option 1 or by e-mail at customerservice@ohscompcare.com. You can also visit us at www.ohscompcare.com.
Why choose us? Because OHS-COMPCARE is locally owned since 1979 with same ownership.
OHS-COMPCARE has eight (8) area clinical facilities:
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Blue Springs Clinical Facility |
Independence Clinical Facility |
Johnson County Clinical Facility |
St. Joseph Clinical Facility |
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801 NW St. Mary’s Drive |
19000 E. Eastland Center Crt, St. 200 |
10415 Lackman Road |
904 Edmond Street |
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Blue Springs, MO 64104 |
Independence, MO 64055 |
Lenexa, KS 66219 |
St. Joseph, MO 64501 |
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816-224-9121 |
816-478-9299 |
913-495-9905 |
816-233-7702 |
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After Hours Available |
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KCMO/Broadway Clinical Facility |
KCMO/Front Street Clinical Facility |
Wyandotte County Clinical Facility |
Grandview Clinical Facility |
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1650 Broadway |
6501 East Commerce, Suite 110 |
1333 Meadowlark Lane, Suite 200 |
13830 S Us Highway 71 |
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Kansas City, MO 64108 |
Kansas City, MO 64120 |
Kansas City, KS 66102 |
Grandview, MO 64030 |
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816-842-2020 |
816-483-5550 |
913-596-2774 |
816-761-4664 |