Skip the Waiting Room: The Urgency Room Encourages Virtual Care Visits
For years, getting sick during the cold and flu season required some time in a waiting room. It can be a less-than-ideal place to be.
“You have people coughing, sneezing, we do encourage masking, but not everybody does,” said Colleen Weed Erickson, a physician assistant at The Urgency Room in Golden Valley. “You can be exposed to a number of upper respiratory things if you are sitting in the waiting room for any length of time.”
Weed Erickson is a veteran in the field and knows what’s in store for the next few months.
“Pretty big upper respiratory season again,” she predicted.
It’s one reason why she says more people are logging onto their computers and using The Urgency Room’s virtual care option.
“During, particularly cold and flu season, we’re seeing a hundred plus patients a day that would otherwise be sitting in a lobby somewhere waiting,” Weed Erickson said.
Accessing the virtual care option requires a few simple steps. First, patients need to visit The Urgency Room’s website and select “Start Online Visit Now.” Next, they have to create an account, confirm that they’re in Minnesota and accept the terms. Then, after answering a few questions, they’re connected to a provider.
Becky Leagjeld of The Urgency Room demonstrates how to log onto their virtual care option.
That provider will determine whether the patient needs a test to diagnose what they have. Folks can then go to the most convenient Urgency Room location, do a quick check-in to get a swab, and let the people in the lab handle the rest.
“We are sometimes running 120, 140 swabs a day at each lab, so this is definitely the busy time of year for those,” said Alecia Selter, the lab manager at The Urgency Room.
While it may be a busy time of year, they have a slew of machines in the lab to process the swabs and diagnose things like strep, COVID, flu and RSV.
“During peak flu season, these machines are all running, and sometimes there’s one on deck waiting,” said Selter. “But thankfully, it’s very, very fast.”
The machines are so fast that it takes about 30 to 60 minutes for patients to get accurate test results through email or text.
“We’re able to help those people get back to their lives faster,” said Selter. “Prescriptions are easier if you know the result of a lab test faster, so I feel like it has an impact in a lot of ways.”
Some of the ID NOW™ devices at The Urgency Room. These devices are used to detect infectious diseases.
Related: The Urgency Room Opens in Golden Valley on Aug. 18
