Emergency department
- Open when
- Every hour of every day
- Can admit you to hospital
- Yes
- Typical cost
- Usually the most expensive
Emergency, urgent care, or your own doctor?
These three are built for different jobs. Knowing which is which usually makes the choice easier, and can save you a long wait or a large bill.
If it could be life-threatening, do not stop to decide.
Chest pressure. Trouble breathing. Fainting. Bleeding that will not stop. Weakness on one side, or trouble speaking. Go to the emergency department, or call 911.
Find the nearest ERCompare the three
Explore what each place offers. This is a comparison, not advice about your symptoms.
Urgent care
- Open when
- Same day, evenings and weekends
- Can admit you to hospital
- No
- Typical cost
- Usually cheaper than an emergency department
Your own doctor
- Open when
- Usually by appointment
- Can admit you to hospital
- No
- Typical cost
- Usually the cheapest
If you know what you need
Your own doctor can do most of what follows, and knows what came before it. Pick what you need and see everywhere that does it.
Wounds, casts and dressings
Stitches or staples out
- Emergency
- Yes It will do this, but it is the most expensive way to have it done.
- Urgent care
- Usually Call ahead. Not every clinic takes out stitches it did not put in.
- Your own doctor
- Usually Take your discharge papers, so they know what was used and when.
Wound or dressing check
- Emergency
- Yes
- Urgent care
- Usually Take your discharge papers and any dressing you were given.
- Your own doctor
- Usually Say when the wound happened and when it was last dressed.
Cast or splint check
- Emergency
- Yes
- Urgent care
- Call first Some clinics do not adjust a cast someone else applied.
- Your own doctor
- Call first Many will send you to the bone specialist named on your papers instead.
Crutches, boot or sling
- Emergency
- Yes
- Urgent care
- Usually
- Your own doctor
- Call first Not every practice keeps them in stock.
Medicines and results
Prescription refill
- Emergency
- Sometimes It may give you a few days’ supply if you have run out and cannot reach your doctor. It does not manage a long-term prescription.
- Urgent care
- Sometimes Some clinics will bridge a few days. Few will repeat a long-term medicine. Call and ask.
- Your own doctor
- Yes The only place that can carry a medicine forward over time, and the one that should hold the prescription.
Results explained
- Emergency
- No Its medical records office can give you a copy, but the department is not set up to go through them with you.
- Urgent care
- No It will not hold the results of tests run somewhere else.
- Your own doctor
- Yes Take your discharge papers. They list what was done and what it showed. Reviewing them, including what a test did not show, is the follow-up visit.
Repeat blood test
- Emergency
- Yes
- Urgent care
- Call first Ask whether they run the specific test your papers name.
- Your own doctor
- Usually Take your discharge papers. They name the test and when to repeat it.
Checks, shots and paperwork
Specialist referral
- Emergency
- No
- Urgent care
- Call first
- Your own doctor
- Yes Take the name of any specialist your discharge papers already suggested.
Work or school note
- Emergency
- Yes For the visit itself: ask before you leave, if you can.
- Urgent care
- Usually
- Your own doctor
- Usually Best for a note covering more than the day of the visit.
Blood pressure recheck
- Emergency
- Yes The most expensive way to have a reading taken.
- Urgent care
- Yes
- Your own doctor
- Yes The only place that will compare it with your earlier readings.
Tetanus shot
- Emergency
- Yes
- Urgent care
- Usually
- Your own doctor
- Usually They may already have a record of when you last had one.
What one clinic offers varies. When it matters, call and ask before you travel.
In more detail
Emergency department
Every hour of every day
Problems that could threaten life, limb, or eyesight, and anything that came on suddenly and severely.
What it can do
- Imaging, blood tests and heart monitoring on site
- Can admit you to hospital
- Reaches surgery and specialists
Cost Usually the most expensive option, and often the longest wait for problems that are not urgent. If the bill worries you, ask the hospital billing office about financial help once you have been treated.
Cost and insurance should not keep you away from emergency care.
Urgent care
Same day, evenings and weekends
Problems that will not wait days for a regular appointment, but are not dangerous.
What it can do
- Stitches, splints and basic X-rays
- Testing for common infections
What it cannot
- Cannot admit you to hospital
- Limited imaging, and no emergency surgery or heart monitoring
Cost Usually cheaper and faster than an emergency department for minor problems.
Your own doctor
Usually by appointment
Follow-up after an emergency visit, ongoing conditions, medicines, referrals, and anything that has been building slowly.
What it can do
- Knows your history and your medicines
- Reviews what the emergency department found, and what it did not
- Adjusts long-term treatment and arranges specialist care
What it cannot
- May not be able to see you the same day
Cost Usually the cheapest, and the only place that carries your care forward over time.
Being unsure is itself a reason to be seen
This page cannot tell you what is happening to you, and it is not a substitute for being examined. Many practices have a nurse line that will talk it through with you, and your discharge papers may name someone to call. When the choice is genuinely unclear and the problem is getting worse, the emergency department is the safer error.