Weigh the advantages and disadvantages so you can be prepared during an emergency.
After Jim Pickford fell and fractured his arm, he knew he needed help, fast. He turned to a Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Injury Clinic.
“The first time I saw him, he walked in for a same-day appointment,” said Dr. Eric N. Bowman, a sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon. “He couldn’t move his arm.”
Pickford had broken his humerus, a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. Bowman saw him just hours after the injury. Pickford works in Kentucky during the week, making typical doctors’ appointments a challenge to schedule, so he was grateful to be able to receive the care he needed at his convenience.
“When I saw him again, he was doing very well pain-wise,” Bowman said. “We did some more X-rays and everything clinically looked like he was doing well, but he needed the next stage of treatment: Moving, getting his strength back and guidance on how to do that.”
Convenient care
When an emergency arises, it’s important to know that you have options. Orthopedic injury clinics offer advantages for treating fractures, muscle injuries and other urgent orthopedic conditions — often with time- and cost-saving results.
“The clinic is a convenient way for patients to get treatment right away,” said Bowman. “I saw people last night who said, ‘I’m really glad you have this because I can’t get here during the day because of work.’”
These orthopedic injury clinics, staffed exclusively by orthopedic specialists, are open after-hours on weekdays and on Saturday mornings. It offers splinting, casting, diagnostic imaging, concussion screening and a variety of tests, treatments and services. Each month, Vanderbilt physicians see over 250 patients there. The patients mainly suffer from acute injuries such as sprains, strains and fractures. They have more in common than their injuries and need for care, however. They also want to avoid wait and cost of visiting the emergency department.
Saving time and money
When people arrive at the clinic, they are paired with an orthopedic provider right away. They are usually in and out faster than they would be from an emergency room or urgent care clinic, but with similar services.
Pickford’s case is an example of the benefit these orthopedic injury clinics offer.
“It saved him from going to the ED,” the emergency department, Bowman said. “Time-wise, he spent about a half hour here, rather than the hour or more that people sometimes wait in urgent care, and for probably significantly less costs, as we charge for an office visit rather than a visit to the emergency department.”
Take sprains, strains and injuries here
Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Injury Clinics in Franklin and Hendersonville, Tennessee, accept walk-in appointments in the evenings and weekends and offer both same-day and walk-in appointments throughout the day.
