At our Palatine urgent care clinic, we know illnesses don’t make appointments and you shouldn’t have to either — just walk in! Whether its severe allergies or horrible cold, if it’s urgent to you, it’s urgent to us. You will receive immediate care for your non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries by one of our dedicated doctors.
Patients who need immediate medical service for acute and chronic illness and injury can benefit from urgent medicine at EPIC Urgent & Family Care. Offering urgent care requires broad knowledge and close communication and collaboration with specialists.
What Is Urgent Care?
These services are not a replacement for regular doctor visits. It should be used as a convenient option when you can’t wait for a scheduled appointment or illness or injury strikes outside of regular office hours. It’s also an alternative to what could be hours of waiting at a hospital emergency room.
Urgent care providers like Dr. Patel and our team of nurse practitioners are on the front lines of medicine, and they need to be proficient in evaluating and caring for any patient who walks into their clinic. That means there is some overlap between the scope of practice in urgent care medicine and many other medical specialties involving direct patient care.
Our Center in Palatine, IL also offers on-site lab tests and digital x-ray so you can get your results fast. We are a convenient, walk-in immediate care clinic that treat adults and children (newborn to age 18), insurance or no insurance.
Procedures
- Wart Removal – Freezing
- Skin Tag Removal
- Abscess Drainage (Incision & Drainage)
- Ingrown Toe Nail Removal
- Ear Wax Removal
- Ear and Nose Foreign Body Removal
- Suture and Staples Removal
- Tick Removal
- Splinter Removal
Injuries
- Cuts & Lacerations–Sutures,Staples,Skin Glue
- Splinting for Sprains & Strains
- Fractures/Broken Bones
- Minor Burns
- Animal & Insect bites
Other Services
- EKG/ECG
- Digital X-Ray
- Pulmonary Function Test (Spirometry)
- IM and IV Medications
- IV Fluids Therapy
- Immunizations/Vaccines
- Vision Check up
- Hearing Test
- Drug Screens
- Asthma Treatment
Tests
- TB testing (skin/blood testing)
- STD Testing
- Diabetes Testing
- Urine Tests
- Rapid Strep Testing
- Influenza Tests
- Mono Testing
- Pregnancy Tests
- HIV Testing
- Vitamin D level
- Thyroid test
- Liver and Kidney function
- Urine drug screen
- Breath Alcohol test
Illnesses
- Abrasions
- Allergic Reactions
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Back Pain
- Colds
- COPD
- Corneal
- Abrasions
- Cough
- Dehydration
- Diarrhea
- Flu
- Gout
- Indigestion
- Infections
- Inflammations
- Migraines
- Mononucleosis
- Nausea
- Pain
- Pink Eye
- Pneumonia
- Rashes
- Respiratory Illness
- Sinusitis
- STDs
- Strep Throat
- Upset Stomach
- UTIs
- Vomiting
- Warts
- Yeast Infections
How Is Urgent Care Similar to Emergency Medicine?
Most parents who receive treatment in an ambulatory medicine setting can be treated fully by an urgent care medicine specialist, either independently or in consultation with another specialist. They may sometimes need a follow-up appointment or Dr. Patel will refer them to another specialist, transfer them to an emergency department, or recommend direct hospitalization for inpatient care.
Urgent care does not include surgical operations (other than skin lesion removal or wound repair), inpatient care, or continuing medical care for chronic medical problems.
The Overlap Between Urgent Care and Family Medicine
This kind of medicine shares the most in common with family practice and emergency medicine, compared to other medical specialties, though it is unique enough from both to be considered a separate specialty with a distinct knowledge base, skillset, and breadth of experience required.
Like family practice, urgent care has a broad scope, as it cares for patients of any age, male or female, with any complaint. Where it differs from family practice is in its focus on acute medical problems. Not every family practice doctor offers urgent care medicine, focusing mainly on chronic health issues in patients. Family practice is about continuity of medical care more than anything.
Urgent Care or Emergency Room?
A clinic like ours is not the same thing as an emergency room. Patients with medical problems on the high end of the severity spectrum should go to the emergency room, but patients on the low end may get treated quicker through urgent care, with the added benefit that they may already be Dr. Patel’s patients.
Dr. Patel has expertise in evaluating and treating urgent care patients with simple, office-based laboratory tests (including urinalysis, pregnancy test, and rapid strep assay) and X-ray.
If you present to urgent care at EPIC Urgent & Family Care and Dr. Patel judges that your medical problem requires more complex tests such as CT scanning and ultrasound, she may transfer you to a hospital emergency department.
One benefit of urgent care over emergency care for lower-severity acute illness or injury is that care can usually be provided more quickly than in the emergency room. However, urgent care cannot provide definitive care of critically ill patients and are not equipped for long-term patient observation.
Dr. Patel Can Meet Your Urgent Care Needs
Whether you are a current patient at EPIC Urgent & Family Care or not, Dr. Patel is a great, convenient urgent care provider in Palentine, IL.
