Emergency Care vs. Urgent Care: What's the Difference?
Physical discomfort is the body’s way of letting you know that it needs attention. Experiencing pain prompts a series of questions in your mind: What type of attention does your body need? What is the severity of the ailment? How urgently do you need to be treated by a physician? Your answers to these questions can help you decide what type of medical care you should locate and when.
Emergency care and urgent care are both dependable medical resources for a variety of ailments, but are fundamentally different services.
What is Emergency Care?
In an effort to provide our patients with a single point of care for all emergency and urgent medical situations, the Emergency Room at Regional Medical Center of San Jose also contains our Urgent Care Clinic. Patients admitted to the Emergency Room are guided through Regional’s Rapid Medical Evaluation (RME) program, which allows Emergency Room staff to determine the best method of treatment, while also reducing patient wait time and length of stay.
According to the National Institutes of Health, emergency care is generally used to treat more severe ailments and potentially life-threatening conditions. These conditions may include, but are not limited to:
- Bleeding that will not stop
- Breathing problems (difficulty breathing, shortness of breath)
- Change in mental status (such as unusual behavior, confusion, difficulty arousing)
- Chest pain
- Choking
- Coughing up or vomiting blood
- Fainting or loss of consciousness
- Feeling of committing suicide or murder
- Head or spine injury
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Sudden injury due to a motor vehicle accident, burns or smoke inhalation, near drowning, deep or large wound, etc.
- Sudden, severe pain anywhere in the body
- Sudden dizziness, weakness, or change in vision
- Swallowing a poisonous substance
- Upper abdominal pain or pressure
What is Urgent Care?
Urgent care is a resource for patients who need medical care quickly, often times without a scheduled appointment with their primary care physician. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, urgent care centers are open beyond typical office hours, and their scope of services is broader than that of many primary care offices. While urgent care is intended for patients experiencing symptoms of acute illness or injury, it is not recommended for patients experiencing an emergency.
Our Emergency and Urgent Care Services
The Emergency Room at Regional Medical Center of San Jose offers emergency care services that are accessible to you and your loved ones twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Our accredited medical team consists of well-trained emergency physicians, nurses, and support staff. The Emergency Care program also features an accredited chest pain center for the early detection of heart attacks, a Certified Stroke Center for the diagnoses, treatment, and prevention of strokes, a Level II Trauma Center, including a thirty-four bed Intensive Care Unit as well as lab, radiology, CT scanning, MRI, and blood bank.
If you have a question about emergency care or urgent care, contact our free “Consult-A-Nurse” Healthcare Referral line at (888)-762-8881.
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