Emergency or urgent care: which should you go to?
2 minutes read
- When a patient who should go to an urgent care centre goes to an emergency room instead, the quality of care falls and waiting times rise for people whose lives are at risk.
Santo Domingo, July 2024 – Around 80% of patients who arrive at an emergency room are urgent care cases. This shows the need to educate the public about the difference between emergency rooms and urgent care, so they know where to go when a medical problem arises, said Dr. Josué Hernández, medical director of Médico Express.
An urgent case can be any health condition that needs prompt medical attention but does not put the patient’s life at risk, for example migraine, back pain, earache, fever, minor injuries, and viral or allergic conditions, among others.
An emergency, on the other hand, is when a person’s life is in danger and they need immediate care. These cases almost always require hospital admission or intensive care, for example chest pain, loss of consciousness, seizures, heavy bleeding or multiple injuries, among others, added Hernández.
People who come to Médico Express can be treated for most of their health conditions, whether through urgent care, consultations, diagnostics or even outpatient surgery.
The emergency medicine specialist stressed: “We don’t admit patients; ours are urgent care rooms, and it’s important for the public to understand these differences and what each service covers.”.
Educating and guiding patients benefits the health system and allows care to be more timely, fast and accurate.
Médico Express is an outpatient care centre located in Santo Domingo Este with paediatric and adult urgent care rooms. It is also equipped to stabilise any patient who arrives, and if admission is needed, a timely transfer is arranged, said the specialist.
What sets the centre apart is its many specialties, advanced technology and a standardised model of care centred on patients and their families.
The centre has important local and international alliances and features such as automated external defibrillators on every floor and staff trained in basic and advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation, to provide greater safety for patients and staff. This makes it a cardio-protected centre and a place with everything needed to help a person in the first minutes of a cardiac arrest.
About Médico Express
Médico Express is a modern outpatient care centre, designed, built and operated to international standards, with a care model centred on patients and their families.
It is the first centre to obtain Fitwel certification in Latin America.
It is strategically located on the San Isidro motorway to meet the healthcare needs of the local population and tourists.
Médico Express promotes innovation, research, digital transformation, knowledge transfer and best practice, taking Dominican medicine international.