Urgent Care centers are locations that would be for those that need care now, but it is not life threatening. An example will be a broken bone. If the patient has no way of getting to the urgent care center, then they can dial 911 for an ambulance. The ambulance will make a judgement call of whether the patient will be best for urgent care, or emergency services. When going to urgent care, the triage receptionist will take the patient’s name, and ID Card. The ID card is also the Health1 card. The patient will receive the ID card again, and will be given a medical bracelet on their wrist. Red bracelets are severe allergies, whereas yellow bracelets are minor allergies. Green bracelets are no known allergies. The nurse will call the patient in, take down the information and soon the doctor will see the patient. There will be an X-Ray room so if need be, the patient can get X-Rays and determine what is going on. If an MRI is required immediately, then there will likely be a need for hospital admission. The doctor will see the patient, prescribe any drugs (up to 14 days), and advise the patient to see their PCP within 14 days.
If an emergency or hospital admission is required, then the Urgent Care will arrange an ambulance to take the patient to the hospital of their choice. This should still be within the county that the patient lives in. The patient will have some say in which hospital they will go to. Since all hospitals are a part of the Health1 network, they will likely choose what’s closest to them.