Sometimes, unexpected musculoskeletal injuries are too painful or too limiting to ignore—or to treat on your own.
In instances where a sudden injury causes significant pain or loss of function, it’s better to act quickly rather than wait. Visiting an orthopedic specialist as soon as you can could help minimize damage and lead to a better outcome.
This is when visiting a Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance orthopedic, walk in clinic in Kansas City can prove highly beneficial. We offer 2 independent urgent care locations in Overland Park and Belton—as well as an additional partnership at Kansas City Orthopedic Institute’s Leawood location. Each clinic offers specially trained orthopedic providers who can properly diagnose and treat a wide range of musculoskeletal injuries.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about orthopedic urgent care services at KCOA!
What Injuries Require Urgent Care?
Daily living brings its own inherent risks when it comes to musculoskeletal injuries. People can take measures to help minimize those risks, but an injury can happen at any day or time. These types of injuries—known as acute injuries—differ from the chronic ailments that worsen over time due to overuse or incorrect form.
Acute injuries are sudden, unpredictable, and can happen regardless of lifestyle. The risk of experiencing this type of injury increases the more active someone is—making athletes and those in labor-intensive careers particularly vulnerable. But even less active people still face danger in the form of household hazards, outdoor weather conditions, and more.
Some common injuries that may require a visit to an orthopedic walk-in clinic n Kansas City and surrounding areas include:
What is KCOA Urgent Care in Kansas City?
Urgent care at KCOA serves as a way for patients to access immediate care in the event they suffer an acute injury. Our urgent care facilities offer walk-in appointments to provide same-day orthopedic treatment—eliminating traditional wait times.
This allows patients to quickly receive an accurate diagnosis and subsequent treatment plan from highly trained, orthopedic specialist. After you check-in and a provider is ready to see you, you’ll receive a comprehensive interview, physical exam and potentially some advanced testing. KCOA offers advanced testing through the use of diagnostic imaging (including X-rays and MRI).
Both tests can help your provider with the most important aspect of an urgent care visit: the diagnosis. With any type of injury, a misdiagnosis can ultimately lead to improper treatment that leads to a poor or lengthened recovery.
By using the highest quality technology at our disposal, our providers can pinpoint the exact cause of your musculoskeletal condition. From there, your physician can create a treatment plan tailored to your specific needs and long-term goals. These treatment plans can include remedies such as prescription medications, bracing, physical therapy, or referral to a KCOA specialist with additional training in treating your condition.
When Should I Visit KCOA for Urgent Care?
It’s important to understand that visiting an orthopedic walk-in clinic in Kansas City may not be the best option for everyone’s specific situation. KCOA’s urgent care locations offer exceptional care when it comes to diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal conditions. This means the issues our specialists treat strictly involve bones, joints, muscles and connective tissues.
For instance, patients younger than two years old, those with long-time chronic pain, and patients needing to refill prescriptions should not visit urgent care. Patients with medical issues such as a fever or flu, skin infections or rashes, or eye trauma should visit their primary care physician or an urgent care center focusing on primary care.
On the other end of the spectrum, some injuries may require more immediate and extensive care—which will require an emergency room visit. Patients should reserve these visits for either life-threatening situations or severe injuries that can lead to permanent damage without treatment.
Injuries or conditions that are most appropriate for an Emergency Room visit are:
- Severe chest pain or difficulty breathing
- Fractures with exposed bone or severe displacement
- Deep wounds
- Serious head, neck, or back injury
How Should I Prepare for an Urgent Care Visit?
Before visiting one of our orthopedic urgent care clinics, we recommend you prepare by gathering a few essential items, including:
- A photo identification and insurance card
- Contact information for you and your pharmacy of choice
- Any tests related to your injury, such as X-rays or other imaging
- A description of your medical history and any prescription medications you take
- Details of any specific procedures performed relating to your condition
- A valid payment guarantee
- If necessary, a family member or guardian to help provide additional context to the injury, past medical history or interpretive assistance
Choose your location and review hours
You should also know that our different KCOA locations offer different operating hours. Partnering with KCOI, our allied urgent care center in Leawood is open from 8 am to 7 pm from Monday through Friday—with weekend hours of 10 am to 4 pm.
Our independent urgent care locations in Overland Park and Belton offer walk-in appointments from 8 am until 3 pm Monday through Friday, and are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. We hope to offer urgent care services at our new location in Merriam in the near future.
Urgent Care Costs
KCOA and its affiliated Urgent Care locations participate in most insurance plans. We will need you to provide proof of coverage at the time of treatment. If you prefer to pay cash for your visit to Urgent Care, we have a plan to meet your needs. KCOA will also work with you to establish a payment plan, if necessary, to cover the cost of your visit and treatment.
What Are the Risks of Not Seeking Immediate Treatment?
The primary risk of not visiting an urgent care center is the same as not seeking treatment in general—that the injury may continue to worsen. Increasing swelling, pain or decreases in range of motion are signs that it’s time to seek treatment from an expert in musculoskeletal care
The benefit of seeking treatment soon after your injury is that an experienced KCOA provider can minimize the extent of the injury through advanced treatment and diagnosis.
The challenge that most patients face is determining when an injury requires immediate treatment. Individuals have different tolerances for symptoms, including pain. Many injuries we see in the orthopedic clinics would have benefitted from early diagnosis and intervention. If you’re questioning whether to be seen, trust that our clinicians will help get you moving toward recovery.
Risks of Not Seeking Urgent Care or Treatment
A prevalent issue involves patients believing that they can work through the pain on their own. This is particularly common with high-level athletes or those who work in labor-intensive careers. For some, financial instability can play a role in choosing not to seek care.
Without treatment, it’s possible that the injury could worsen and become a chronic condition. Improper recovery from injury is a leading cause of chronic conditions, such as osteoarthritis. Allowing the injury to degenerate also makes it more difficult for providers to find the underlying cause of the injury.
Because avoiding treatment can make injuries worse, injuries can also affect performance and make future treatment more costly.
For example, an athlete may feel obligated to play through the pain in order to help their team win. The reality is that their injury can greatly reduce their athletic capabilities, which may hurt both their performance and the team as a whole.
Although most of KCOA’s providers have surgical specialties, surgery is our last option in most cases. KCOA providers always exhaust every avenue before recommending surgical procedures—opting for non-invasive treatments whenever possible. Allowing an injury to degenerate may put you in a position where surgery is the only recourse available to treat your symptoms.
Visit Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance for Leading Urgent Care in Kansas City!
At Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance, we make it our mission to create a superior patient experience for all. Regardless of the location or severity of a person’s injury, our team will work with you to ensure the best possible outcome. Those seeking urgent care in Kansas City and surrounding areas can visit any of our locations in the area for walk-in appointments during business hours.
You can also request an appointment if you would like to see a specialist for any ongoing concerns. To receive a thorough evaluation, call us at (913) 319-7600 or use our symptom tracker tool. If you have any additional questions or comments, feel free to fill out our contact form to get a prompt response from a KCOA representative.
