Submitted by ORA Orthopedics
Your child hurts his ankle
during football practice or her knee while on the volleyball court. What
do you do? The ankle may be sprained or even broken. The tendons or
ligaments in the knee may be torn. Until now, your options were limited
to a trip to the local hospital emergency room, where you could wait
hours to see an ER physician. The result is usually a referral to a
specialist the next day, which will require you to take time off work
and pull your child from school. Because the injuries of runners,
cyclists, high school athletes, and weekend warriors often do not occur
during normal business hours, ORA Orthopedics has decided to open Urgent
OrthoCARE, an after-hours, walk-in clinic to treat these urgent
orthopedic injuries.
Hospital ERs have become very busy and very
congested. Anyone who has gone to the ER with an orthopedic injury such
as a sprain or a broken bone knows that you get in line behind those
with chest pain or the flu. Even if you are seen fairly quickly, you
usually won’t see an orthopedic specialist until the next day or longer.
Meanwhile, you pay the high cost of the ER visit and you are still in
pain. “Emergency rooms are expensive and can involve long waits, and
most urgent care centers can’t treat complex orthopedic conditions, so
we’re trying to fill that void” says Ken Brockman, CEO for ORA
Orthopedics. With health care reform, health systems and hospitals are
looking for ways to reduce health care costs by redirecting care out of
the ER to lower cost venues. ER visits represent an extraordinary cost
to insurance companies versus an orthopedic physician clinic. For the
patient, Urgent OrthoCARE charges the same co-pay as a physician’s
visit, which is generally cheaper than an emergency room co-pay.
Urgent
OrthoCARE is an alternative to the hassle and wait of the emergency
room. It is the only urgent care facility in the Quad Cities that
specializes in orthopedics. The clinic is staffed by board-certified
physician assistants with special training in orthopedics and a better
understanding of orthopedic injuries. With on-site digital X-ray and MRI
services, as well as casting and splinting technicians, Urgent
OrthoCARE will be able to more effectively and efficiently handle those
orthopedic injuries that occur.
The clinic will be open Monday
through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at ORA’s Bettendorf clinic
location (53rd Ave and 18th Street). Most musculoskeletal injuries are
appropriate for a visit to Urgent OrthoCARE, including sports and work
injuries, dislocations, sprains, tendon and ligament injuries, or broken
bones. However, there are certain instances when the emergency room or a
general urgent care clinic provides a better choice. Open fractures
(bone sticking out through the skin), head or spine trauma, deep
lacerations, or burns are best treated at an emergency room. Whereas,
cold, flu, respiratory and stomach issues, injuries to the eyes, or
medical conditions not related to bones, joints, or muscles are best
treated at a general urgent care clinic.
“The whole idea is to
provide improved access to care,” says Dr. Joseph Martin, President of
ORA Orthopedics. “Convenience and access are key when you experience an
urgent orthopedic injury. Urgent OrthoCARE was designed to provide
that.” Urgent OrthoCARE is an extension of what ORA currently offers it
patients. If you experience an urgent orthopedic injury during the day,
ORA provides same-day or next-day appointments. Additionally, they
always have an orthopedic surgeon on call 24/7 to handle orthopedic
emergencies that occur.
To learn more about Urgent OrthoCARE, visit
ORA Orthopedics’ website at qcora.com. Like us on
facebook.com/oraorthopedics and follow us on Twitter/oraorthopedics.