However, our bodies are affected by antibiotic overprescription in even more significant ways. For example, a new study has shown that taking antibiotics can weaken your immune system. The study shows that antibiotics “are producing changes that are actually counterproductive to the treatment effort. They reduce the bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics, and the drugs themselves reduce the functional benefit of the immune cells.”

In addition to weakening our immune systems, overuse of antibiotics can impair the effectiveness of vaccines in babies. An Australian study “hypothesizes that antibiotics can disrupt an infant’s developing gut microbiome, which can subsequently reduce the effectiveness of a vaccination.” This disruption of a person’s microbiome has also been shown to make flu infections worse by wiping out important gut bacteria. “New research led by scientists from the Francis Crick Institute in London is suggesting not only are antibiotics ineffective for individuals suffering from influenza, but they can actually worsen the initial viral infection.”

Antibiotics in our Environment

Even more alarming, even if we are vigilant about limiting our own antibiotic consumption, our waterways and food sources are teeming with antibiotics. “In a massive global study, led by researchers at the University of York, hundreds of rivers around the world have been tested for levels of common antibiotics. The study found 65 percent of all samples contained some concentration of antibiotics, with the worst cases showing levels more than 300 times higher than the generally accepted safe threshold.”

At Zion Urgent Care Clinic, our board-certified providers are extremely careful about prescribing antibiotics. Call or text us at 832.447.6454 if you are not feeling well. No appointments are necessary and wait times are short!

Bug Bites

Mosquitoes are one obvious culprit, but others abound. Ticks like our tall grass, as do other creepy crawlies. Black widow and brown recluse spiders live in Texas and are dangerous to children and adults. Animals tend to pick up fleas as the weather warms up. Keep an eye out for itchy or painful red bumps and if you suspect a spider bite, check with your urgent care clinic.

Dog Bites

Just as kids love to run around in the neighborhood, dogs are likely to get out and run too. If you or your child does not know an approaching dog, it’s best to stay away. If you do end up with a bite that pierces the skin, it’s important to have it checked by a doctor.

Head Injuries

Kids and adults alike enjoy riding bikes, skateboards and scooters as the weather warms up. Teaching safe behaviors – such as wearing a helmet when riding a bike or scooter – limits risk-taking on playgrounds and on bike paths, and will help keep your family safe.

Alcohol Poisoning

Spring break is a classic time for college age kids to let loose and this can sometimes include partying too hard and drinking too much. Binge drinking is alcohol consumption that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit of 0.08%or higher. Friends need to watch out for friends in these high-risk situations and parents need to stay alert to the signs of binge drinking.

Zion Urgent Care Clinic offers convenient and caring medical treatment in any of these cases. No appointment necessary!

Injuries Treated at Urgent Care

Many people who come into urgent care facilities come because they have an injury or have recently experienced trauma. Common injuries include:

• Fractures
• Whiplash
• Sprains or strain of the ankle, knee, or shoulder
• Cuts and lacerations
• Burns
• Injury from falls
• Injury from car accidents

Illnesses Treated at Urgent Care

In addition to injuries, many people come to urgent care facilities to be treated for illnesses. These illnesses are not life-threatening. Usually they can be treated with antibiotics or other medications. Some of the most common illnesses that are treated in an urgent care facility include:

• Urinary tract infections (UTI)
• STDs
• Allergies and asthma
• Pink eye
• Mono
• Bronchitis
• Common cold
• Flu (influenza)
• Ear Infection
• Strep throat
• Head lice

Other Symptoms

Sometimes, you may not know exactly what is wrong. In this case, it is still a good idea to come to an urgent care facility if you are experiencing some of the following symptoms:

• Swollen glands
• Rash and itching
• Coughing (and dry cough), sneezing and wheezing
• Sore throat
• Minor abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Headaches
• Other unexplained pain or swelling

When to go to Urgent Care

It’s important to understand when you should go to an urgent care center. If, for example, you have a cut that is extremely deep and will not stop bleeding, an emergency room may be a better option than the urgent care. It’s also good to note that even if your injury or illness is on the list of most commonly treated items, if it severe enough you may be transported to a local emergency room. Urgent care facilities are a good option if you are unable to get to a primary care physician, especially when it is after hours.

Even if you have health insurance, sometimes you are better off not using it.

This might seem crazy based on our common understanding of how health insurance is supposed to work. He have been taught that using insurance always saves us money, because we assume our insurer negotiates the best rates for health services, and partly because we expect our insurer to pick up the tab for whatever cost remains, or at least much of it.

However, for the growing number of people in high-deductible plans who must spend thousands of dollars on health services before insurance even starts to kick in to cover some of the cost, this is often not the case at all.

“According to experts Consumer Reports talked to and a review of pricing options offered by dozens of healthcare providers, more doctors, hospital networks, and treatment centers are touting big discounts for patients who pay cash upfront and forgo using their insurance.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have health insurance. Like homeowner and auto insurance, health insurance protects you from financial shocks that could bankrupt you if you or a family member has a medical crisis that requires major hospitalization or expensive treatments.

But as consumers shoulder more of the cost of their care, they are seeking ways to save money.

And healthcare providers are finding that by charging people who pay cash less than the insurer-negotiated rate for some health services, they can come out ahead financially too, says Bill Kampine, co-founder and senior vice president of analytics at Healthcare Bluebook, which uses insurance claim databases to estimate prices for medical care.

Healthcare providers make up for charging lower prices other ways, Kampine says. Cutting out the insurer as the middleman can significantly reduce the provider’s administrative and billing costs. And healthcare providers who get cash upfront don’t have to chase down the money later, either from a patient or the insurance company. “It’s a much easier transaction in a cash pay environment,” Kampine says.”

How You Can Save

Reduced fees for paying cash are more common for diagnostic procedures, such as CAT scans, X-rays, and ultrasounds, but cash payers can also often get a better deal for certain lab work, prescription drugs, out-patient surgeries, and therapeutic services, such as physical therapy by using direct pay diagnostic and lab companies, like Green Imaging.

The differences in price can be significant. A mammogram that you pay out of pocket might cost you $175, but the lab can charge your insurance upwards of $400 – $600 for the same procedure. If you are in a high deductible health care plan, you pay that higher price out of pocket if you haven’t met your deductible.

When Cash Payments Can Cost You

“Still, even if paying cash is likely to reduce your annual outlay for medical expenses, there are some important drawbacks to consider.

The main one is that the money you spend typically won’t count toward your deductible. As a result, those dollars will be “wasted” if you need medical care that requires you to meet your whole deductible anyway, Pinder says.

The money you spend also may not be counted toward your out-of-pocket maximum, which caps the total amount you owe for deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. After you meet your out-of pocket max, your insurer picks up 100 percent of your costs.”

The Smart Way to Pay by Cash

There are smart ways to figure out whether paying directly, rather than using your insurance, is the right choice.

Assess the situation.

Whether it makes sense to use insurance depends on your specific circumstances. Cash payment generally makes sense only if you’re seeking care subject to a deductible which you haven’t met yet and don’t think you will reach anytime in the same calendar year (deductibles reset annually). Of course, you never know when you’ll get sick and need expensive medical care. Make sure you put enough money aside to meet your deductible.

Research price and cost compare.

Healthcare prices vary widely, even within the same local area and especially by provider, so it’s important to shop around.

First, check your insurance company’s website, or call your insurer, to get an estimate of the cost of your test or procedure. Don’t forget to consider copays and coinsurance, which requires you to pay a percentage of the cost of a service (typically 20 percent). Then see whether you can do better by paying cash. Pratter, Healthcare Bluebook and ClearHealthCosts publish both insurance-negotiated prices and cash rates where available.

“Some health care providers, like The Surgery Center of Oklahoma, which bills itself as “a free market-loving, price-displaying, state-of-the-art surgical facility,” don’t take insurance at all. The Surgery Center posts cash prices for dozens of outpatient procedures, such as an Achilles tendon repair ($5,730) and cataract surgery ($4,000). Its prices are all-inclusive, bundling all related fees for the surgery, such as medications or needed specialists. That’s still a lot of money, but for a family with a high deductible—say $8,300, the average for families who buy insurance on their own—paying cash could help them save thousands.

Keith Smith, an anesthesiologist and medical director of The Surgery Center, also co-founded an organization called the Free Market Medical Association that lists hundreds of other providers that publish cash prices.”

Be persistent.

Not all healthcare providers make it easy to find out the cash price because if they have a contract with your insurer, undercutting the negotiated price could be a contract violation. “So you should ask directly how much your care would cost you with your insurance, and how much if you pay cash”, Pinder says. If the healthcare provider balks, keep asking. “You may have to be persistent or go to another provider,” she says.

Talk with your insurer.

Although most insurers won’t count cash payments toward your deductible, it’s not a hard-and-fast rule, Kampine says. Ask your insurer what its policy is. You can request that your doctor’s office provide what is known as a “superbill,” which is an itemized statement of charges and includes information such as diagnosis and procedure codes. Submit that to your insurance company when asking whether your payment can be applied to your deductible.

Use tax advantaged dollars.

“You can ease the pain of using your own money if you have a flexible spending account or health savings account. Money in FSAs and HSAs, which can be spent on a wide range of healthcare services, is put away pre-tax, so it lowers your taxable income. Most employers offer flexible spending accounts, which you can fund up to $2,650 a year. You have to have a high-deductible health plan to have an HSA, but if you do, you can put away $3,450 a year pre-tax for an individual and $6,850 for families to spend on out-of-pocket medical expenses.”

Shop around for prescriptions, too.

As with procedures and diagnostics, you can sometimes save on prescription drugs by paying cash. Your pharmacist may not be able to reveal whether their retail, cash price is lower than your insured price due to “gag clauses” in their contracts with middleman known as pharmacy benefit managers. To work around this, you must directly ask the pharmacist whether there is a lower price available.

You can also look for online discounts at websites such as GoodRx or Blink Health and bring them to a pharmacy. Most will honor those coupons, and the discounted price can be lower than your insurance copay. Also try out low-cost pharmacies, such as Costco and Sam’s Club, which offer everyday low prices.

Originally posted on ConsumerReports.org

The ER is for life-threatening situations, although many people go there even if it’s not an emergency. According to one study, nearly half of ER patients whose illness didn’t warrant being admitted to the hospital had gone to the ER just because their doctor’s office wasn’t open.

“Urgent care would have been more appropriate — and less expensive. Out-of-pocket costs are likely lower than for an ER visit, especially if the facility is in your health insurance network.

Realize, too, that the emergency department treats people in order of need, so you may have a longer wait time. Urgent care centers usually see people on a first-come, first-served basis.”

Here are some examples of reasons to visit an urgent care clinic:

• Fever and flu symptoms.
• Rashes and ear infections.
• Routine exams and lab work.
• Minor injury.
• Stomach pain.
• Severe sore throat.

“More serious problems, like severe pain and difficulty breathing, as well as traumatic injuries, do need screening and treatment at the ER.

In serious emergencies, driving to the ER won’t get you help fast enough. It’s safer to call 911, especially in life-threatening situations. Paramedics can start care immediately.”

Here are some reasons to go to the ER:

• Severe bleeding or pain.
• Chest pain, shortness of breath or wheezing
• Any sign of stroke, including paralysis, difficulty speaking, altered mental status or confusion.
• High fever or fever with a rash.
• Serious burns, cuts, dislocated joints or broken bones.
• Serious fall or an injury involving the head or eyes.
• Severe headache or loss of vision that comes on suddenly.

“If you’re unsure what constitutes an emergency or what costs will be covered, contact your insurer before you need any of these services. If you’re ever in doubt, go to your closest ER. But if the problem is simply that you just can’t reach your doctor, consider urgent care.”

Excerpted from US News & World Report