When you start to feel sick, you could head right to urgent care, but there are a few things you can do before getting into the car. Usually, our bodies give us a little bit of notice before an illness kicks into high gear.
Prior to heading to an urgent care facility like https://oururgentcare.com/locations/st-peters/, do a few things to help yourself. These four things will not stop your illness from progressing, but it might give you a little relief before you visit the urgent care facility.
Check in online
Some urgent care facilities have online check-ins that will speed up the process of seeing a doctor or a physician’s assistant. If you do not check in online, you might have to wait until everyone who did check in is seen. When you check in online, you can see how long the wait is and decide when to leave your home. It is more comfortable to be sick on your own sofa than it is to be sick in an urgent care waiting room.
Don’t wait too long
If you think you have the flu, you should go to urgent care as soon as possible. There are medications that you can take that will decrease the severity of the flu, but those meds are only effective in the early stages of the flu. Waiting too long can prolong the flu and make your conditions worse.
Despite it being tough to get out of bed if you have the flu, it is in your best interest to get to the doctor as quickly as you can. Without the antiviral flu medication, your flu could last significantly longer and keep you out of work and away from your family for a long time.
Bring the necessary medical information
If your urgent care center is connected to a local hospital or physician’s office, your medical information might be on file. But, in most cases, your information is not on file. To expedite the registration process, you should bring your vital medical information like your insurance card and a photo ID. Bring a list of the prescriptions and dosages you are taking as well as anything over the counter, including vitamins and other supplements.
If you are bringing your children to the urgent care center, you should bring any records that will help the physician better understand your child’s health situation. It can be helpful to bring vaccination records and any of the prescriptions and dosages that your child is taking, too.
Know when to go
Some urgent care centers are busy on certain days of the week and hours of the day. The busiest times are usually evenings and weekends when traditional physician’s offices are closed. If you are going to the urgent care center for a cold or a minor illness, you might have to wait for people with more serious problems to be seen first. On a busy day, you might wait for hours before you are seen.
