If you drive by a Sterling Urgent Care, you might make the mistake of thinking the clinic is the same as other urgent care clinics. This would be a wrong assumption. Sterling Urgent Care has many more capabilities than most urgent care clinics and can service a vast majority of healthcare needs.
Let’s take a look at some of the things that makes Sterling Urgent Care different!
1. Sterling Urgent Care Redefines Healthcare
Sterling Urgent Care is unique among health care providers. One of the main things that makes Sterling Urgent Care unique is that it is not owned by providers, insurance companies, or other healthcare companies.
Unlike publicly traded companies, or non-profits owned by insurance providers, Sterling Urgent Care is owned by employers.
How does this make Sterling Urgent Care different?
When an insurance company owns a healthcare provider, the costs skyrocket. The same thing happens when providers own healthcare. We have seen evidence of this in the rising cost of healthcare in the United States for the last 40 years.
As insurance companies became a solid part of healthcare, the costs of your healthcare became obscure. It was no longer apparent what a visit to the doctor would cost.
In fact, most doctors don’t even know what the billing department will charge.
That makes it hard to control costs and harder to shop rates.
Another factor that influences rates is that healthcare providers will usually charge the maximum amount allowed in their contract. They assume the cost will be cut down if the insurance doesn’t like it.
This means that you are actually at the mercy of your insurance plan for your healthcare costs.
Sterling Urgent Care Is Different!
Sterling Urgent Care is owned by employers. An employer has only two motives as it relates to healthcare:
- Keep costs affordable
- Keep employees healthy
Employers aren’t concerned with the incredible profits that most healthcare providers bank every year. Even non-profit healthcare facilities earn millions of dollars a year in profits in the USA.
As a result, employer-owned health care brings the focus back on the employee’s health and keeping healthcare costs down.
That is what makes Sterling Urgent Care unique!
We are employer owned. Our focus is on providing quality healthcare for an affordable price. Even if your employer does not participate in Sterling Urgent Care benefits or memberships, you can still reap the benefits of this patient-centric and affordable-focused care.
2. Sterling Urgent Care Membership Changes The Face Of Healthcare for Families
In today’s world, few families still have those glorious older, pre-Affordable Health Care insurance plans that offer a $20 copay.
Instead, most families either lack health insurance completely, or have large annual deductibles. Large deductibles means that families are now paying thousands of dollars for healthcare out of their pocket before their insurance pays a single dime.
If your family has a $6,000 deductible, you pay 100% of the costs until you pay the full $6,000. It’s as if you had no insurance. (Except if you had no insurance, you could negotiate a cash-pay rate with most providers.)
A Sterling Urgent Care membership changes that. Sterling Urgent Care facilities can treat and handle 90% or more of most people’s healthcare needs.
A monthly membership is $50 a person or $100 for a family of four. Additional family members are only an additional $10 a month. (A 12 month commitment is required for families signing up.)
With a Sterling Urgent Care Membership, you can get most of your needs taken care of for no additional cost. Physicals, urgent care needs, IVs, laceration care, and so much more is included in a membership.
Even services that typically cost hundreds of dollars are included for a small additional charge. Worried about your heart? Sterling Urgent Care can do an EKG for no additional charge for members.
X Rays, casts, wheel chairs, and in-house labs are only $15. Dozens of common prescriptions are also available for $10 per 30 day dose.
Suddenly healthcare becomes affordable for the average family.
Even with a high deductible plan, the average family can purchase a Sterling Urgent Care membership and have unlimited access to medical professionals and the latest technology.
The cost?
Only $1,200 a year for a family membership.
That’s thousands less than if you receive the same services and have to pay for them out of pocket through your deductible!
3. Sterling Urgent Care Accepts Most Insurance Plans
Did you know that Sterling Urgent Care accepts most insurance plans? We accept Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which is a major insurer in Idaho and Wyoming. We also accept dozens of other plans.
Chances are, we accept your insurance plan.
But, if you want to make sure, just give us a call. We can double check for you before you come in.
4. Sterling Urgent Care Offers An Expansive List of Services
We aren’t going to name any names, but we have some other “urgent care clinics” just across the street from some of our locations. These clinics can’t do xRays, in house labs, or in house prescriptions.
One of these clinics sends 90% of their patients to their parent owned hospital emergency room. Then patients are billed for both services!
We think this is criminal.
Instead, every Sterling Urgent Care clinic is stocked with state-of-the-arc technology. We can do in-house much more than most urgent care locations.
Here’s a very small sampling of the services we provide:
- EKGs
- X Rays
- Casts, Wheelchairs & wraps
- Common Illnesses
- Influenza
- Bladder infections
- Bronchitis, Laryngitis, Strep & Colds
- Allergies
- Cuts, Lacerations, & Skin tears
- Breaks & sprains
- Hemorrhoids
- Insect bites & bee stings
- Skin conditions
- Poison Ivy & Oak
- Minor burns & rashes
- Swimmer’s itch
- Wart removal
- Diabetes
- Asthma
- Gastritis or indigestion
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
- Menopausal complications
- Gout
- Headaches
- Back injuries
- Trauma
- Physicals
This is a small sample of the services offered by Sterling Urgent Care.
5. Sterling Urgent Care Membership Increases Access to Healthcare
Unfortunately, having insurance no longer means healthcare access to most people. HIgh deductibles have made healthcare inaccessible unless dire need requires it. Many families report to us that they wait to see a provider because they can’t afford the annual deductibles.
But a Sterling Urgent Care membership changes that!
Office visits don’t cost members anything.
That means you can come in every week of the year and have no additional costs!
There is no reason not to check on a healthcare concern when you have a Sterling Urgent Care membership!
In fact, our membership has saved lives.
We had a member come in with heart pain. He told our provider that he wouldn’t have come in, but because he had a membership, he knew it wouldn’t cost him anything.
Because he came in, we discovered that he was in the process of a heart attack!
His membership saved his life and helped him get the medical care he needed to minimize the long-term effects!
6. Case Management Is A Valuable Service Of Sterling Urgent Care
What happens if you have a healthcare need that falls outside of Sterling Urgent Care’s scope of services?
We don’t do operations. We don’t deliver babies (except in emergencies) and we don’t treat cancer.
But, we can still help you to save thousands of dollars in catastrophic care.
How?
Our case management team is especially geared to manage the healthcare system for you. We know what the prices and costs of healthcare.
We can negotiate with hospitals, surgical centers, and other treatment centers to get you cash discounts, reduced rates, and specialized care.
In one case, we were able to get a patient cancer treatment from the Huntsman Cancer Institute for thousands less than their local cancer clinic.
They got better care and paid less money!
As an individual, ou may find it time consuming and difficult to negotiate with providers.
But, since we already know which providers offer cash discounts (sometimes as high as 80%) we can help you to save money without spending a lot of your precious time to do it.
This becomes a valuable resource for employers who self-fund their insurance plans.
7. Urgent Care Versus Emergency Room Care
An emergency room visit can quickly add up to thousands of dollars. In contrast, an urgent care visit usually only amounts to a few hundred. Sterling Urgent Care visits cost members $0.00!
The vast majority of emergency room visits can be handled at the urgent care. In addition to a lower cost, an urgent care visit often means less of a wait as well.
That means faster care so you can be on your way!
There are a few things that should be seen in an emergency room. If you suspect you are in the middle of a heart attack, the emergency room is the best place to go.
There are other specific instances you should seek an emergency room including:
- Numbness on one side of your body
- Seizures
- Severe cuts
- Bleeding with Pregnancy
- Slurred speech
- Head injury
But an urgent care can provide care for other urgent, but non-threatening situations. If you need a fluid IV, the urgent care can help.
Sterling Urgent Care provides both urgent care and primary care for most patients.
8. Telemedicine Brings Your Local Doctor Closer
We know, telemedicine has gotten a bad rap. You get on the computer, ipad, or telephone and talk to a doctor you have never and will never meet. You don’t know their qualifications.
But, Sterling Urgent Care Telemedicine is different.
Our Evisits platform brings you in contact with one of our local providers.
We don’t outsource care to national telemedicine phone banks!
That means that you will get Sterling Urgent Care quality care and can build a rapport with our doctors.
They are local.
They care about the community.
And, they are familiar with local health threats.
On average, a telemedicine visit only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. You can visually show the provider your symptoms, check your temperature, and take an active part in your recovery.
Telemedicine makes visiting the clinic easy and convenient.
It also means a lower cost if you are a cash-pay patient.
For some, it means more privacy when an embarrassing health concern arises.
And it means not hauling all the kids in for the visit.
9. Sterling Mobile App Saves You Time
The Sterling Mobile App will save you time and energy. Check in to a clinic on your way and save yourself wait time.
Or, make an appointment.
Do your paperwork electronically so we can admit ou when you arrive.
Plus, our mobile app provides health education so you can stay tuned to the latest research.
You can also access your health records through the app as well as pay your bill.
10. In House Labs & Prescriptions
Because Sterling Urgent Care has an in-house laboratory and an in-house pharmacy, you can reap the savings.
We carry common prescriptions and can fill your prescription without ever making you go elsewhere.
And, members only pay $10 a prescription!
Plus, you don’t have to go to yet one-more place while feeling ill. You can simply grab your prescription and head home to recover.
What could be better?
Conclusion
There are many other reasons to visit Sterling Urgent Care and even more reasons if you are an employer. Don’t forget to sign up for notifications so you don’t miss out on the latest Sterling Urgent Care news!