Urgent Care and Blood Clots “Who ya gonna call?”

This month, we welcome Dr. Benjamin Silverberg for a patient primer on blood clots and urgent care. Dr. Silverberg is a family medicine physician at WVU Medicine in Morgantown, West Virginia, where he holds a dual appointment in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Family Medicine, and works in student health, travel medicine, and urgent care.

In this webinar, Dr. Silverberg discusses: 

• The differences between urgent care, the emergency department, and primary care 
• Differences between different urgent care sites
• Telemedicine and urgent care
• The role of urgent care in diagnosing deep vein thrombosis (DVT, a blood clot in the leg)
• How patients can advocate for themselves in urgent care

Key takeaways:

• Both urgent care and primary care should be able to assess the risk for a blood clot, but sometimes these clinics lack the resources (such as bloodwork or ultrasound) to make a definitive diagnosis
• As with other medical concerns, if you feel like you have not been heard—or your worries not fully addressed—seek out a second opinion from your primary care clinician or another healthcare provider or facility