Urgent Care After Car Accident

Emergency Room or Urgent Care After Car Accident?

Experiencing a car accident can be an extremely frightening and traumatic event for anyone involved. Your body will send adrenaline through your body as you experience shock and fright. This rush of adrenaline can mask injuries.

You could be suffering from a significant injury but not feel its effects for hours or day later. It’s very likely that you won’t be thinking clearly and it’s easy to make a bad decision. This is why it’s important to seek medical attention immediately even if you think you are fine.

Your health should be your #1 priority and creating documentation for your injuries will do nothing but help in the case you need a make a personal injury claim for medical expenses, lost wages, medical mileage, attendant care, replacement services, and possibly even your pain and suffering.

How Serious Are Your Car Accident Injuries?

The main determining factor when choosing between an urgent care clinic and emergency room will be the severity of your injuries after a vehicle accident. If you are suffering from serious or possibly even life threatening injuries, it’s clear that you should visit the ER.

They have more resources to help you quickly in the event of a serious injury. Simply call 911 and let the ambulance and medical professionals do their job. Worry about the cost and the reimbursement later.

Even if you have minor injuries that aren’t life threatening, you should consider going to the Emergency Room if it’s a somewhat serious injury. These serious type of injuries can become life threatening or permanent if you don’t get the proper medical treatment early.

The only reason you should go to an urgent care is if you know for 100% that the injuries you sustained are not serious and you don’t have to worry about them getting worse.

Examples of injuries where you should visit the Emergency Room related to car accidents:

Differences Between Urgent Care and ER

Ok, lets assume that you are not suffering from any serious or life threatening injury. It’s still important to see a doctor right away to make sure you don’t have any hidden injuries that should be treated right away to avoid complications in the future.

Another important reason to get checked following an accident is to create documentation in case you need to file a personal injury claim. Insurance companies don’t like to pay out for injuries and they will do anything in their power to not pay you. They will claim that your injuries are unrelated to the car accident or that your injuries arose from some other situation. You need as much evidence as you can showing that your injuries are directly related to the accident.

Now you will need to determine the best place to get medical treatment and learn about the differences between an urgent care and an emergency room.

There are many factors that should help you make your decision about medical care after a car accident. The nature of your injuries, your personal preference, level of medical insurance, and other aspects such as distance will be the ultimate deciding factors.

Here are some of the key elements that will factor into your decision making when choosing between an Urgent care and Emergency Room:

The waiting times – Urgent care centers are usually much faster and you will have less waiting time. The average wait time is usually under 20 minutes. The wait time for emergency rooms are notorious for being longer. It could take well over an hour to see a doctor depending what day of the week, the location, and the time of day that you walk in. If you are serious injured however, you will move to the front of the line.

How much it costs – Many victims of an auto accident are fearful and hesitant about seeing a doctor for the simple reason of it costing too much. This is an understandable fear because health costs in the United States can be astronomical. If the accident was caused by the negligence of someone else however, you will not be footing the bill yourself. However, emergency rooms are inherently more expensive than urgent care.

The quality of medical treatment – While this is not true in all circumstances, the average physician in an emergency will be more qualified than the doctors in an urgent care. If you have a serious injury or an injury that has the potential to be a long-term problem, the added comfort of having the best doctor available is usually worth the extra cost.

Testing and referrals – Emergency rooms are usually more concerned about the immediate fixing of a medical problem and not so much about long term care and testing. If your injury isn’t injury, an urgent care will usually spend more time with you and give you a referral to a primary care physician or a specialist if the doctor feels your condition warrants it.

Cost Difference Between an Emergency Room and Urgent Care

Ultimately, the decision between choosing between an ER visit and an Urgent care center is up to you. The best answer is doing what you’re comfortable with weighing all the factors listed earlier in this article. Both options will give you the documentation that you need in case you need to file a personal injury lawsuit.

What Is The Average Cost?

On average, the average cost of an Urgent Care visit is between $100 and $200. While not cheap, this is certainly a reasonable rate and a powerful reason to go to urgent care. The average cost of an emergency room visit is about 10x this much. ER visits can cost in excess of $1000 dollars a visit. Depending on what data you use, the average for an Emergency Room visit can be anywhere between $1200-$2400. Emergency medical treatment should always dictate a visit to the E.R regardless of the cost.

Make a Personal Injury Claim After Your Car Accident

If you are a loved one is a victim of a car accident and is injured, you should call an expert personal injury attorney to see if you have a claim after you seek treatment. We will give you an honest answer about your situation. We can help you prove your case and secure maximum compensation for your losses. We offer free consultations to all potential clients and charge no fees unless you win your case. Call us today at 517-347-6900 to get started!

List of Local Emergency Rooms Near Lansing

List of Local Urgent Care Clinics Near Lansing