Clinics provide non-emergency outpatient care that’s routine or preventive. These facilities accept most insurance plans and typically offer a wide range of healthcare services. They can range from walk-in clinics to specialist clinics that treat conditions like a fertility clinic or gynecology clinic. Some are even affiliated with a hospital.
Many clinics serve as a place for people with injuries or illnesses to come and be seen by a triage nurse. The injury or illness may not be large enough to warrant a visit to the emergency room, but the clinic can help transfer the person to one if needed. These clinics can also make referrals to specialists.
A free-standing clinic is usually separately owned and operated, while a clinic that’s part of a hospital is often known as a hospital extension clinic. These are usually located in an urban area and have a close relationship with the main hospital where they’re located.
Other types of clinics include retail health clinics, which are staffed by certified nurse practitioners and provide basic health care for minor ailments such as fevers and colds or rashes. They’re sometimes called storefront health clinics and are found in places such as CVS or Rite Aid.
Some clinics are also known as ambulatory surgery clinics, which provide outpatient surgical services for procedures that don’t require a hospital stay. A common example is the removal of wisdom teeth. Many ambulatory surgery clinics are associated with hospitals, but some are independent from them.
Lastly, there are employer-sponsored clinics, which are located on the premises of the company that operates them. These clinics are a convenient solution for employees to get healthcare that’s often more cost-effective than a trip to the hospital. They can also reduce the amount of time employees spend in waiting rooms, a significant factor that drives up healthcare costs.
Clinics are a great way for patients to get the undivided attention of physicians that they might not get in a large hospital system. This kind of personalized care can make a big difference to the quality of a patient’s health. As more people are seeking this type of healthcare, the need for clinics is likely to continue to grow. It’s important to understand what a clinic does and how it differs from a hospital so that the right type of clinic is chosen for the healthcare needs at hand. There’s a growing need for clinics that focus on specific areas of medicine, such as sexual health and gender identity clinics, fertility and reproductive care clinics, and abortion clinics. These facilities allow physicians to become experts in a certain field of medicine and can offer a more individualized approach to patient care. In addition, they can operate on shorter timelines than a hospital, allowing patients to get the care they need much more quickly.