Just like the name suggests, urgent care centers are places to get medical help that is of urgency and cannot wait until you get to the hospital. Among the many medical services you can get at urgent care services include wound dressing, first aid, lab services and prescriptions for various medical conditions. Depending on the doctor’s qualifications and license, the type of medication and treatment you can get varies from one urgent care center to another. You can never know until you set your foot in an urgent care center and find out for yourself. However, in normal circumstances, these medications are more likely to be filled for you at an urgent care center.
Short Term Pain Management Drugs
Most people experience one type of pain daily so it is very common to see people rushing to urgent care centers for pain management drugs. Such drugs are used to treat short-term pains like backaches, headaches, muscle pain, and so on. However, for long-term pain management you will not get them filled at urgent care centers because their use could result in becoming an addiction. In that case, the doctor who has been administering them might be said to have abetting drug abuse and they may lose their license. For such pains, you should visit a hospital for further examination. Besides, you do not want to put your health at risk.
Antivirals
Antivirals are drugs used for treating or preventing contagious diseases and conditions like flu. Since some of these conditions are highly contagious and deadly if not vaccinated against early enough, the prescription is treated with utmost urgency. For this reason, it can be filled at urgent care because by the time the patient gets to a hospital, they may have already contracted, spread, or suffered serious effects of the disease. It is important that although you can get the antiviral filled at urgent care, it is just up to a few doses and then you can get the rest from a hospital.
Antibiotics
In our daily undertakings, we always come across things and situations that leave us with bruises and wounds. When the bleeding is very severe, getting to a hospital might not be an option because you might bleed to death even before you get there. This is where urgent care centers come in; the performance of urgent dressing of such wounds to stop bleeding. At that instance, the doctor should give you some antibiotics to prevent any chances of the wound being infected.
Allergies and Asthma Medication
Allergies and asthmatic attacks are circumstances that no one can see coming. They can happen without the patient getting any prior sign or warning. When this happens, urgent care must be administered otherwise the patient may experience serious side effects, at which time, death is imminent. This is not the time to rush up and down looking for or trying to ask the already unconscious patient where their inhaler could be. Instead, you rush them to an urgent care center where they are given antihistamines and an inhaler to last them to the hospital.
One Time Maintenance Drugs
Due to various circumstances like being busy with work, one-time maintenance drugs such as blood pressure or diabetes drugs can always run out without you being aware of it. Since urgent care centers are all over the town, you can always rush to one and get some to last you the moment before you visit your doctor at the hospital. One-time drugs for managing conditions such as high blood pressure have to be administered.
Prescription Refills
If you are on medication for various illnesses and the prescription happens to run out at night or if your primary physician is far, you can get the refill from an urgent care center. You could call your primary physician to allow you to get the prescription refill instead of you traveling to them. However, most of these prescription refills are only meant for a limited number of illnesses during emergencies.
As seen, it is very possible to get your medication filled by going to urgent care. However, medical services and medication offered at urgent care centers should not be construed as the ultimate solution to your problems. Instead, they should be used as first aid, after which further examination and help should be sought after in hospitals. Most urgent care centers accept insurance from different companies but it is always wise to first confirm with them to avoid any surprises.