For those who have busy schedules and chronic pain, an urgent care facility might be a viable alternative a doctor’s visit. While doctor’s offices require scheduling and missing work, urgent care is much easier to fit into a busy schedule and life and the treatment offered there is often just as high a quality. Because the vast majority – 85% – of urgent care facilities are open every day of the week, it means that patients who can’t afford to miss work are able to be seen by an urgent care doctor at a medical clinic.

An urgent care facility or walk-in clinic is a great way to check out small ailments like coughs and colds. In fact, the most common diagnosis at clinics is an upper respiratory condition. Urgent care facilities are also great places to go to treat minor injuries, as they deal mainly with wound repair. For an injury as minor as an ankle sprain that needs treatment but perhaps not emergency room care, an urgent care facility is a great middle ground. As almost 30,000 Americans sprain their ankles (usually by rolling them inward, called inversion) every single day, urgent care facilities are often necessary for the many who can’t find the time to get to their primary care physician. And urgent care doesn’t just provide treatments for minor problems, contrary to popular opinion. The majority of urgent cares actually also provide treatment for things like fractures.

Doctors at an urgent care facility are no less qualified than doctors who work at a private practice. 20,000 doctors work at urgent care facilities and are visited every week by 3 million total patients. These local doctors provide care to those who don’t have time to schedule an appointment with their primary care physician, those who don’t have a primary care physician, and those suffering from ailments not serious enough for an emergency room visit.

Urgent care facilities play a vital role, providing quick and efficient care to everyone, no matter the background or cause of their ailments. Urgent care doctors can diagnose and treat just as your primary care physician would do and provide the same standards of medical treatment without the stress of trying to fit a doctor’s appointment into an already busy schedule.