After I wrapped up a long day of calls and wrangled a very tired and cranky daughter my left ear started really hurting. As in, holy crap, I think I have an ear infection. I've been sick off and on for several weeks. It's starting to effect my attitude towards work, my general energy levels and the snoring is driving DH nuts.
After putting Cameron down for bed I decided to look up the Minute Clinic. My sister, A., recommended it as an alternative to making a usually inconvenient appointment with my primary care physician. I found one a few miles from my house and resolved to head out to be there for its 8:30 AM open.
I woke up at 12 AM coughing my fool head off and quickly downed some NyQuil in the hopes that I could return to sleep fairly quickly. For a change, and probably because I am so run down, it worked and I woke up fairly refreshed but still sick.
In accordance with my plan I made it to the Minute Clinic at 8:20 AM. And there was already one person in line ahead of me. I had a 9 AM call that I had to be on but I was hopeful that the 15 minute appointment guidelines would apply. And it totally did!
Super easy check in process although I was annoyed to see that Cameron has to be 18 months old to receive care. When I was called back into the room and started listing my symptoms everything was noted down electronically. A quick swipe of my insurance and FSA and I had two recommendations for over the counter drugs and a prescription sent over to my regular pharmacy. The nurse practitioner was very friendly and asked relevant questions. Total time? 15 minutes in and out. I'm sure that wait times vary depending on the time or day but when I left there were 3 people on the list behind me.
I loved that I could go on my time and didn't have to deal with the hassles of paperwork. Diagnosis? Sinus infection. Hopefully I'll be well on my way to recovery by this weekend. Have you ever been to a Minute Clinic? How does it compare to an Urgent Care?
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2 comments:
I will definitely be trying- even though my doctor has a walk in center it's a pain and this sounds easier (Although, knock on wood, I haven't been sick in a year- and think of all the germs I've been exposed to. Juice Plus baby!)
My experience has been the same ... this is an amazing convenience. I can go after the kids are in bed or on the weekends. My doctor has said several times "Just call us and we'll get you in.." but the one time I did it took me 2 hours ... I had a bad sore throat and felt terrible AND I had to take all 3 kids with me and he had a waiting room FULL of sick people ...
The Minute Clinic folks have been wonderful and quick AND convenient.
We are lucky in my area to also have a facility called Acutekids ... it's basically an urgent care for kids ... attended by pediatricians ... another wonderful convenience.
Hope you're feeling better today ...
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