Are you prepared for a non-emergency?

Visit an urgent care center for non-emergency injuries and illnesses

If you’re experiencing an illness or injury that is serious, but not an emergency, consider visiting an urgent care center to receive care that is typically faster and costs less than an emergency room visit.

If you think you’ve broken your arm or have a child with a fever, you may not know where to go for the right care. There are many choices for getting medical help, like going to a nearby hospital, emergency room (ER), an urgent care center, or seeing your primary care doctor in-person or virtually.“The fundamental rule is to use your best judgment,” says Benjamin R. Leavy, M.D. He’s a family and community medicine doctor at UC Davis Health in Sacramento.

Urgent care centers provide many of the same basic medical services as a doctor's office, often with extended hours for delivering services and lower out-of-pocket costs. Staffed with qualified professionals, urgent care centers are ideal for non-emergency care when your doctor is not available:

If you feel you are experiencing an emergency, call 911 immediately or go to the nearest emergency room. 

Urgent Care Centers for non-emergency care

• Cough, sore throat, respiratory infections
• Earaches
• Back pain, body aches
• Burning with urination
• Colds, sinus infections
• Allergies
• Eye irritation, swelling or pain
• Sprains, muscle strains
• Rashes, minor cuts, scrapes
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
• Animal bites

Emergency rooms for life threatening emergencies

• Any life-threatening or disabling condition
• Injury, with loss of consciousness or fainting
• Uncontrolled bleeding
• Sudden numbness of limbs or face, difficulty speaking
• Severe shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Sudden, severe chest pain or pressure
• Major injuries, vehicle accidents, stab wounds
• Poisoning
• Sudden, severe abdominal pain
• Vomiting blood

Urgent care centers can save you time and money

Urgent care centers can offer you care at lower out-of-pocket costs for non-emergency conditions. According to a study conducted by Johns-Hopkins, and the wait is typically less than an hour while the average wait time at a California ER is about 4 hours and 34 minutes.

Where do I go? How do I know?

It’s always a good idea to know where your local urgent care center is before you need it. 

Check your Medical ID card. The Blue Shield Member Services phone number can be found on the back. You can get a copy of your ID Card if you log-in to your Blue Shield account.

Take a minute now, and use the on-line locator tool. Know your options BEFORE you need them. You can use it weather you are logged-in to your account or not.

Find Urgent Care Near You