Over the next year, urgent care visits are expected to increase by approximately 86 percent according to the Urgent Care Association of America. As well, UCAA estimates that for 80 percent of patients, waiting times at a urgent care center are 15 minutes on average, which is significantly less time than patients spend in ER waiting rooms. Though originally intended to treat acute but non life threatening health related situations, more and more often these days a urgent care center will provide many other services, for example, lab testing, administration of the flu shot, X rays, and even routine physicals.

A urgent care center can treat most, if not all, non life threatening illnesses and injuries with greater effectiveness than can hospitals offering emergency room services. For instance, a urgent care facility is more equipped than an emergency room to treat a non complicated ear infection, dehydration, migraines, strep throat, UTIs, gastritis, sprains, hemorrhoids, yeast infections, bronchitis, cold sores, heartburn, rashes, athletes foot, and back pain. Not only is a urgent care clinic more effective at treating these ailments, it can do so for much less money than an emergency room can. In the United States, a urgent care visit costs between 40 and 50 percent less than a typical trip to the emergency room.

A urgent care center, unlike the average emergency room, can be located in a number of different types of buildings. Some urgent care centers are positioned within freestanding facilities. Others are situated inside plazas or shopping centers. 75 percent of total urgent care centers within the U.S. are in suburban locales, and 15 percent are found in urban areas. Regardless of where you live, there should be a facility offering urgent care nearby.
See this link for more: www.immediateclinic.com