Lots of rest.
Orange juice.
Chicken noodles soup.
When cold and flu season hits, many Americans rely on the the comforts of home cooked chicken noodle soup, plenty of Vitamin C, and getting as much sleep as possible. Unfortunately, home remedies are often no match for the health problems that some face. If, for instance, you are one of the people who have been diagnosed with this season’s strain of the flu, you may need something stronger. Even more fortunate is the fact that as many as 20,000 physicians practice Urgent Care Medicine today in health clinics around the country. In fact, urgent care centers are one of the most affordable, convenient, and reliable ways to get the medical help that many need.

Finding Affordable, Convenient, and Reliable Care Is a Priority
Although there was a time where patients had to go to a hospital emergency room if they were injured or sick in the evening or on the weekend, that is no longer the case. In fact, even when some Americans need medical advice during regular family physician and pediatrician hours, many of them opt instead for a more affordable and convenient walk in appointment at local urgent care centers. Without needing an appointment days, if not weeks, in advance, many people find that a walk in clinic is a far more practical way to handle needs like flu vaccines, strep throat tests, and other minor medical concerns. And even when an x-ray is needed, a growing number of Americans visit a health clinic instead of incurring the long waits and high prices of going to a hospital emergency room.

Consider some of these facts and figures about the urgent care centers and the role that they plan in the nation’s economy:

• The most common diagnosis in an urgent care center in the year 2012 was upper respiratory condition.
• The most common procedure in an urgent care center in the year 2012 was wound repair.
• 3 million patients visit urgent care centers every week, according to statistics gathered by the Urgent Care Association of America.
• 85% of urgent care centers are open seven days a week.
• 80% of urgent care centers provide fracture care.
• 5% to 20% of Americans come down with the flu every year.

When your home remedies are not enough to make sure that you are feeling your best, you may decide that it is time to go to the closet urgent care center to get the affordable, convenient, and reliable care that you need.