What to Do When You Need Medical Care Fast - Consumer Reports (2024)

Mild discomfort in your chest in the very early hours of the morning. A high fever that hits on Saturday morning and doesn’t respond to over-the-counter pain relievers. A fall that’s left you a bit dizzy. In such situations, should you call your doctor’s practice, visit a nearby urgent care clinic, or get to an emergency room?

Sometimes it can be hard to tell. And "going to the ER can be time-consuming and stressful," says Kevin Biese, MD, director of the division of geriatric emergency medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry, he says. The expert advice here can guide you on the steps to take in a number of key situations.

Call 911 Immediately

When the ER Is Best

In the instances below, going to an emergency department is usually the right step. "Either have someone drive you or call 911," says Saket Saxena, MD, co-director of the geriatric emergency department at the Cleveland Clinic. You may also want to make your doctor’s office aware. Act if you have:

• Respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, a runny nose, or throat pain) plus a shortness of breath. This could be a sign that you’re low on oxygen or you’re developing complications such as pneumonia, says Cameron Gettel, MD, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven.
• Hit your head in a fall but are alert and/or think you may have broken a bone. (If you use blood-thinning meds, consider going to an ER after even a minor fall.) You’ll need to be evaluated for a concussion and internal bleeding, Biese says. If X-rays reveal a broken bone, timely care will ease pain and can prevent complications like permanent muscle damage.
• A deep cut that doesn’t stop bleeding after 10 minutes. While an urgent care clinic may be able to take care of a minor cut, a deep gash that may require stitches is best handled at an ER, Gettel says.
• Sudden, intense vomiting that lasts for more than an hour or two. You may need IV fluids. In addition, such vomiting can indicate a life-threatening condition, such as an intestinal blockage.

Call Your Regular Doctor

In most other less obviously urgent—but uncomfortable—situations, such as a painful pulled muscle, first call your doctor’s office. Many primary care practices set aside time for people who need to be seen the same day, Saxena says.

If your regular doctor or another physician in the practice isn’t available, ask to see an advanced practice provider, such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, says Terry Fulmer, RN, PhD, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation in New York City, which is dedicated to improving healthcare for older adults. They will have quick access to your medical records and may already be familiar with you.

If your provider’s practice is completely booked but is affiliated with a nearby medical center, check the center’s website to see whether it offers same-day appointments with other doctors in its system. Or consider looking for an opening with another local doctor on Zocdoc, Fulmer says. The online service searches for appointment slots filtering by medical specialty, location, and insurance plan. "A lot of physician practices use it because it’s a way to fill last-minute cancellations," she says.

On evenings and weekends, Saxena suggests phoning your doctor’s practice. There’s usually a provider on call who can advise you on whether you can wait to be seen when the practice reopens or if you need to go to an urgent care clinic or emergency room.

Consider Urgent Care

For illnesses and injuries that don’t have the potential to be life-threatening, urgent care clinics—which are often open in the evenings and on weekends—might be an option.

"If you tripped and think you sprained your ankle, and it’s after normal business hours, it makes sense to head to the urgent care clinic for an X-ray to make sure, and to get bandaged up," Gettel says. The clinic can also, for instance, test you for the flu and COVID-19, check your heart rate and blood pressure, listen to your lungs, and, if you’re experiencing painful urination, check your urine and prescribe antibiotics if you have a urinary tract infection.

Urgent care facilities are usually run by doctors, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants. "That’s different from an emergency room, which is staffed with board-certified emergency medicine physicians," Biese says. "As a result, there may be a difference in experience and skill set."

They’re best if your symptoms are straightforward. "Most urgent care centers don’t have the wide array of tests needed to try to figure a more complex situation out," Biese says. And people with serious chronic health conditions, like heart failure, should probably go an ER outside of their doctor’s office hours.

Another get-seen-fast possibility for simpler problems: pharmacy walk-in clinics at major retailers such as CVS, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart, which may be open in the evenings and on weekends. These are a good option for ailments like strep throat, ear infections, and UTIs, Fulmer says. They can also treat minor sprains, cuts that don’t require stitches, and rashes caused by poison ivy.

They’re usually staffed by nurse practitioners, and because there’s a pharmacy, too, you can often get prescriptions filled at the same time. In some, like the MinuteClinics in CVS stores, staff have been trained to flag inappropriate medications in your record and send your primary care provider a summary of your visit and any recommended follow-up.

Can a Virtual Visit Help?

Telehealth, where you "see" a healthcare provider on your computer, tablet, or smartphone, can help if you need same-day care but aren’t sure where to turn.

"You can talk to someone who can gauge whether you need to be seen in person [which may mean an emergency room]" says Terry Fulmer, RN, PhD, "or if they can just call in a prescription for you and wait 24 hours."

If your doctor’s office can’t do a virtual appointment, ask whether it’s part of a medical center with on-demand video care. With some programs—best for conditions that are clearly not emergencies—you can fill out a form with your symptoms and a doctor will get back to you within an hour. Some health insurers have similar services.

Editor’s Note:This article also appeared in the April 2024 issue ofConsumer Reports On Health.