Amanda Wilde (Host): Minor care makes sense when an injury or condition requires immediate medical attention, but is not life-threatening.. Today, we'll explore when to choose minor care or head to the ER with Dr. Kimberly Blewett. This is Tri-State Health Talk, a production of Tri-State Health. I'm Amanda Wilde. Dr. Blewett, thank you so much for being here.

Dr. Kim Blewett: Thank you for having me.

Host: So, what differentiates treatment in minor care from ER Care?

Dr. Kim Blewett: So, minor care is also known as urgent care. And we treat a variety of conditions. We just would defer anything that may be life-threatening to the emergency room. And so, we most often treat upper and lower respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, rashes, sprains, lacerations. Those are probably the most common reasons people come into urgent care.

Host: And what are the range of services you provide at Tri-State Minor Care?

Dr. Kim Blewett: We can do quite a bit here. We have some point of care testing, so rapid testing for strep, mono, influenza, COVID. We can do evaluations of urine samples to see if someone has a urinary tract infection or blood in their urine that might indicate a kidney stone. We can do pregnancy tests. We provide breathing treatments, IV fluids. We can administer anti-inflammatory medications, certain antibiotics. So, we can do quite a bit here, as well as X-rays.

Host: Yeah. Are there limitations to what services you can provide in the minor care setting?

Dr. Kim Blewett: To some extent, and it really depends on a variety of factors. And so if someone comes in and their vital signs are concerning or their symptoms are concerning, it's really best to be in the emergency room because they are monitored much more closely. They can get quicker turnaround time for testing and imaging. So, that's part of our job as nurses and providers here deciding if minor care is an appropriate setting for treatment or if the emergency room is more appropriate.

The other thing that sometimes limits us is getting imaging. And so, most insurances require authorization for imaging other than X-rays, such as ultrasound, CT scans, MRIs. And with most insurances, we can get that relatively quickly and same day. But there are two or three insurances that can take up to 72 hours to provide that authorization. And then, depending on the time of day, if it's late in the afternoon, and certainly in the evenings and weekends, we don't have access to that authorization. And so, in those situations, if we feel like that imaging needs to be done same day and we can't get it, we will often defer to the emergency room.

Host: So, you have to be very flexible and fluid.

Dr. Kim Blewett: We do, we do. And we've been doing this long enough that we have a better understanding of what we can accomplish here. And again, most of the time, we can get imaging and testing done same day, but not always.

Host: You mentioned how you might decide whether someone's symptoms warrant an evaluation in the ER. How should someone themselves decide when they're heading out the door, whether their symptoms are more appropriate for the ER or minor care?

Dr. Kim Blewett: Oh, that's a great question. So certainly, if someone is in severe pain, regardless of where the pain is at, the emergency room is probably a more appropriate location for evaluation and treatment. The other conditions that we will often defer to the emergency room is chest pain, any stroke-like symptoms, moderate to severe shortness of breath, seizures. Those are probably the top conditions that we will recommend the emergency room for.

Host: And going to minor care, what are the hours of minor care? Because we did say it's like urgent care and symptoms can happen day or night, anytime.

Dr. Kim Blewett: .Yeah. So, we actually just expanded hours. We are open seven days a week now, weekdays Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and then Saturdays and Sundays 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Host: So in a way, way more accessible than an emergency room visit.

Dr. Kim Blewett: Yes. And in some ways, and certainly in general, the cost is less than it would be in the emergency room.

Host: How can a person get an appointment? Do you need an appointment to be seen?

Dr. Kim Blewett: Right now, we don't take appointments. It's on a walk-in basis. But we are talking about putting in place some sort of scheduling just so that people have a better idea of what their wait times are going to be. And so, that is something that we're working on right now and hopefully, by the beginning of next year, we'll have in place.

Host: So Dr. Blewett, is there anything else we should know about minor care?

Dr. Kim Blewett: I think the biggest thing is that we are here for all patients. And so, we will help walk a patient through those decisions. And the vast majority of the time, it's totally appropriate to stay here and we can take care of the patients. But also, we have a great team. We always prioritize patient care and we treat patients like we would want our friends and family treated. We've got a great team here.

Host: It sounds like Tri-State Minor Care can handle all situations, including those they may need to escalate to ER.

Dr. Kim Blewett: That's right.

Host: What a great range of services and accessibility. Thanks, Dr. Kimberly Blewett, for walking us through what we really need to know about minor care.

Dr. Kim Blewett: Thank you.

Host: That was Dr. Kimberly Blewett. For more information, go to tsh.org/minorcare. If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it on your social channels and explore our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you, I'm Amanda Wilde. This is Tri-State Health Talk. Thanks for listening.