When do You Need to Call an After Hours Doctor

Whether you or your family member experience vomiting or a high fever, you might want to seek medical attention. However, what should you do when it is not an emergency room ailment, but a doctor is still needed? Well, to put it simply, you will want to call an after-hours physician to come to your home and help you.

If you are new to the entire concept behind this type of doctor, you might find this article quite helpful. The text below will feature all you should know about calling an after-hours physician, the benefits you can gain, as well as what to consider when thinking about hiring a specific one. Let’s take a closer look at the article:

First Things First – What Are After-Hours Doctors?

An after-hour or urgent care physician are medical professionals who provide medical attention and care after normal working times. Of course, it is not designed for treating big medical problems, but instead, acute conditions and illnesses such as a high-fever, smaller injuries, ear infection, a sore throat, a tummy ache, and so on.

Like every other doctor out there, after-hour physicians will be able to diagnose and treat most diseases, and most of their clinics have x-rays or laboratories available if needed. However, you should keep in mind that they do not provide immunizations and they do not usually write refill medicine.

When Should I Opt For These Services?

Besides the previously mentioned conditions, there are also other, most common illnesses that can be treated by an urgent care doctor. The list below will feature the most common conditions when you should request an urgent care doctor, as well as some tips that can help make you or your family members comfortable. You should opt for an urgent-care physician if:

Someone Has an Ear Infection

Ear infections usually affect younger children and it can be extremely painful for babies and toddlers. If one of your children is affected by it, you should request a physician who can decide on the best treatment possible. They might prescribe medicine that will reduce the fever, as well as the pain.

If Someone Has a High Fever

As you already know, a fever happens when the body temperature rises since it is our immune system’s natural response to fighting bacteria that can cause an infection. If your temperature has risen unexpectedly, you can try consuming a lot of fluids or paracetamol, however, if this happened to your young child, you might want to a physician to determine what the therapy should be.

If Someone Has a Strong Cough

There is a wide range of cough types that can indicate different problems such as asthma or whooping cough. Of course, you can treat this by yourself, however, it is persistent, painful, and if it causes breathing problems, you must seek medical attention as soon as you can.

If Someone Has a Stomach Ache

One of the most common and usual causes of stomach aches is either constipation or colic. This usually passes after a few hours, however, if it does not, if it is getting worse, or if it has lasted more than one day, grab your phone and dial the number of an after-hour doctor immediately.

If Someone Vomits Continuously

Generally speaking, there are various reasons why someone might vomit. For example, children might have overeaten and adults might have eaten something bad. But, if it does not pass and if a high fever occurs, contact your in-house medical provider right away. If you want to see what services you can opt for, check out Instant Consult.

What Are The Benefits of Calling One?

Besides the obvious benefit of getting medical attention, there are other benefits that you can gain. These benefits include:

1. 24/7 Working Hours – if you or one of your family members get sick during the weekend or in the middle of the night, what can you do? Should you wait until Monday to get medical attention? Your answer is probably “no”. Instead of waiting for the weekend to pass or for the condition to pass, call an after-hour doctor.
2. It Can Save a Lot of Cash – as you already know, hospital visits can get extremely expensive – and when you include the medication cost and travel costs, the bill gets even higher. But, opting for these services can save you a lot of money, hence, instead of visiting an ER, call your in-house doctor right away.
3. The Billing Will Be Bulk – now, you might be wondering, what is bulk billing? Well, to put it simply, it is a payment method for people who have Medicare. Hence, ensure that you know everything about your insurance package.
4. It is More Convenient – home medical assistance providers are more convenient and efficient than going to the ER, mostly because the doctor will come to you. This is especially useful for individuals who are in a wheelchair or disabled.

What Should I Consider Before Calling One?

The things you should consider include:

1. Their Experience – you will not want to simply search for one on Google and call the first one that comes up in your search. Instead, do some digging. Check if they have a medical license, ensure that they accept health insurance as a means of payment, and check their website to get a better picture of the service they provide.
2. The Reviews – of course, the first place you will want to read the reviews on is the physician’s website. However, you should also check some other, independent websites that will help you get a bigger and better picture of what experiences other people had when they called him or her.
3. Check if They Treat Children – if your child or children got sick suddenly, you should opt for an after-hour physician that can and wants to treat children. So, before choosing which one you should call, check the website or call them to see if they can treat children.

Conclusion

As you can see, calling an after-hours doctor can be extremely useful – especially if someone got sick during the weekends or when the doctor’s offices are closed. So, now that you know everything there is about opting for these services, do not waste any more time and start searching for an after-hour doctor – you never know when you might need to call one.