Options Expand For Avoiding Crowded ERs

… Patients who need immediate care for injuries and illness, be it a nail-gun puncture or a severe stomach bug, are increasingly turning to walk-in urgent-care clinics. These facilities aim to fill the gap between the growing shortage of primary-care doctors and a shrinking number of already-crowded hospital emergency departments, with no appointment necessary and extended evening and weekend hours. Urgent-care clinics are staffed by physicians, offer wait times as little as a few minutes and charge $60 to $200 depending on the procedure — a fraction of the typical $1,000-plus emergency department visit. Some offer discounts and payment plans for the uninsured; for those with coverage, co-payments vary by insurance plan but may be less than half the amount of an ER visit, which can range from $50 to $200. …

…There are currently more than 8,000 urgent-care centers around the country, including about 1,200 affiliated with hospitals, and that number is expected to expand. By contrast, between 1995 and 2005, the number of emergency departments decreased to 3,795 from 4,176, while the annual number of visits to ERs rose by 20% to 115.3 million, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. …