Urgent care/ER visit

An urgent care/ER visit involves seeing a doctor urgently when you cannot wait for an outpatient appointment. Common reasons why you would need this kind of visit include broken bones, severe sprains, and serious infections. Anytime you have a worrisome symptom like chest pain, fever, shortness of breath, stomach pains, or sudden weakness, you need to see a doctor immediately. Urgent care and ER visits are often described together, even though they are different types of visits. The choice of which visit you have often depends on the doctor you see. The doctor may decide that the visit is minor enough for an urgent care visit or may think you need more advanced care only possible in an emergency department setting. Many hospitals have both types of visits available to you.