Travel & Lifestyle: The Worst Thing To Do At An Urgent Care Clinic

Urgent care can be incredibly helpful when you’re injured or ill ― but it’s not always your best option.

If you go to an urgent care center with a health problem that is too urgent, you’re wasting time and will be directed to the nearest hospital’s emergency room. And if you go to the emergency room with a health problem that is not urgent enough, you may be seen eventually ― after spending a small fortune and a lot of time ― but wish you had gone to an urgent care. So how do you figure out which choice is right for you?

Urgent care doctors say that the absolute worst thing you can do at an urgent care is to be there when you have a real emergency. To which everyone reading this is thinking: “Duh.” But it’s sometimes harder to thread the needle than you might think.

“Urgent care is ideal for rapid assessment and treatment of mild to moderate medical issues such as sprains and sports injuries, lacerations, cold and flu, rashes,” said Dr. Ryan Gibney, an emergency physician and medical director of the emergency department at UCI Health ― Irvine, an acute care hospital.

Gibney also said that you may want to consider going to an urgent care center for the following symptoms: “mild stomach pain, urinary symptoms, cuts, bumps, bruises, cough, cold, fever.”

If you have chest pain, Gibney said, you typically should head straight to the ER, as well as if your stomach pain is more severe than “mild.” He also said that if you have “neurologic complaints,” like you think you’re having a stroke, again, the ER is best.

Dr. Graham Stephenson, an ER physician at UCI Health and the medical director of urgent care services at UCI Health – Irvine, seconded this assessment. Stephenson said that “issues with the heart,” like chest pressure or shortness of breath after minor activity, or problems with the brain, such as “head trauma while taking blood thinning medications, are often outside the scope of urgent care.”

Dr. Robert Biernbaum, the chief medical officer at WellNow Urgent Care, noted that he wished patients knew this before they found themselves in a compromising health situation.

“There are definitely cases where I wish patients had gone straight to the emergency department instead – things like chest pain, stroke symptoms, severe shortness of breath, or significant injuries,” he said. “Urgent care is designed for many kinds of acute but non-emergency issues, but when something may be life-threatening, it’s always safer to go directly to the ER.”

As an example of how going to an urgent care in the wrong situation can be life-threatening, Biernbaum said that it’s fairly common for a 50-something-year-old man to come into an urgent care for heartburn, where he’ll be calm, cracking jokes and even have normal vitals, but once he’s asked when the heartburn started, he’ll say, “Yeah, actually it started when I was shoveling snow.”

And then the doctor quickly determines that the patient had, or is having, a heart attack.

Granted, if you actually have a case of heartburn, an urgent care center would be the place to be, not an ER ― and it can be tough to diagnose yourself and know where to go until you meet with a doctor.

Dr. Nicholas Bower, the regional medical director of the University of Maryland Urgent Care, which has locations throughout the state, said that you should go straight to the hospital and not urgent care if you have:

• Sudden, severe chest pain

• Acute shortness of breath

• New confusion or neurological deficits

• Major trauma or significant bleeding

It seems obvious that you would go to an ER if you have those symptoms. But if you’re frazzled and want quick medical attention, you don’t always think rationally.

If you feel you’re having a medical emergency, like a heart attack or stroke, then yes, plain and simple. It’s better to be in an emergency location and end up wrong about your condition than to be in a place that may not be able to address your emergency.

If you’re on the fence ― say, you’re experiencing bone pain ― there are a few things you can consider based on your situation.

As you’ve no doubt heard, a visit to the ER can be expensive. The website for the giant health insurer UnitedHealthcare suggests that an average trip to the ER can cost somebody $1,700 — while a trip to urgent care will probably set you back around $165, on average.

It’s also likely to take you a lot longer to be seen, especially if you aren’t experiencing something fatal. According to one report, the median time patients spent in the emergency room in the U.S. in 2024 was about 2 hours and 42 minutes.

And, of course, if you live in a busy community, forget about it. At some hospitals around the country, it’s not uncommon to have ER waits of 7 hours.

Of course, many urgent care centers are closed late at night, so you may have no choice but to go to an ER. However, some urgent cares do offer services in the middle of the night, some are just for children, and there are even urgent cares for pets.

So, while you’re healthy, you may want to research urgent care centers in your area and make one your go-to place in case you or a family member can’t see your primary physician in a timely manner ― and for when you’re sick but not so sick you need to visit a hospital.

If you do choose to go the urgent care route, doctors note that there are a few issues you should try to avoid.

Yeah, we all ask Google, ChatGPT, Claude or whatever AI platform you’re hanging out with these days what might be wrong with us. Whether it’s smart or not, we’re going to self-diagnose. But don’t necessarily believe your self-diagnosis, Biernbaum recommended.

He said the worst thing you can do is Google symptoms and decide that whatever you’ve landed on is probably correct. He said that he’s had a lot of people come in worrying over nothing. For instance, every summer, he said that he’ll have patients with joint pain or fatigue decide that they have Lyme disease when it’s actually arthritis, or perhaps if they’re extremely tired, sleep apnea.

Drink socially? Use cigarettes? Don’t leave that out when talking to your doctor.

“It’s very common for people to lie about or downplay their use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs, particularly if they use illicit drugs or misuse prescription medications,” Biernbaum said. But obviously, leaving those key details out may mean the doctor won’t have an accurate handle on what’s wrong with you.

Dr. Michael Duchynski said he sees the same thing. He is the chief medical officer and chief operating officer at WellStreet Urgent Care, headquartered in Atlanta.

He noted that sometimes people hold back on details because of the stigma ― for instance, you have a sexually transmitted infection and you may not be eager to mention that. “It’s important for patients to know that their health information is protected, so they can and should seek treatment when they need support,” Duchynski said.

And sometimes patients omit details because they assume urgent care has all of their information.

“A challenge of urgent care is clinicians often have limited insight into the patient’s prior medical history or ongoing condition,” Duchynski said. “Integrated electronic medical records are helpful to ensure continuity of care, but not all urgent cares offer this.”

“It’s surprisingly common and may cost precious time,” Bower said of patients not bringing insurance cards. He suggested finding out if your urgent care has an online check-in.

Of course, if you’re out of sorts because you’re super sick and you don’t have the time or wherewithal to bring your ID or insurance, then, sure, that’s understandable ― but that’s also possibly a sign that you should be headed to the ER, not urgent care.

“Pets are only allowed if covered under the ADA as a designated service animal. Emotional support animals are excluded under this policy,” Gibney said.

He also suggested, when possible, not bringing small children or elderly non-patients ― especially if they are immunocompromised. Sure, urgent cares are professionally cleaning and sanitizing all of the time, but there are still lots of germs lurking about.

Along with not going to an urgent care when you are having a true health emergency, one of the worst things you can do is not get follow-up care if your urgent care physician has instructed you to, according to Duchynski.

Duchynski said that too often, sick or injured patients who require follow-up treatment don’t get it. He said that sometimes patients don’t return for wound checks, follow-up X-rays, or physical therapy, or they’ll ignore symptoms that creep back even after getting antibiotics or other treatment. They should either return to urgent care or see their primary care provider, Duchynski said.

Bower agreed. He said that some patients leave urgent care or other medical facilities determined to “tough it out” rather than listen to the doctor, not using provided crutches, skipping prescribed medication, ignoring a specialist referral or not returning for a follow-up.

Bower is still haunted by the memory of a young father he treated years ago ― at his practice, not at urgent care ― for influenza. Bower advised the young man to return if the symptoms got worse. The symptoms did worsen, but he remained at home, assuming he could recover on his own.

“Ten days later, he was hospitalized with severe pneumonia and sepsis,” Bower said. “Tragically, he didn’t survive.”