1. Know What Type Of Care You Need

The faster you can identify the type of care you need the better. For people with chronic conditions or recurring medical needs such as a urinary tract infection diagnosis and treatment it's easy to find at the closest medical facility. For people experiencing an ailment for the first time it can be more challenging to determine whether an urgent care center or hospital is the best place to seek treatment. In most instances your closest walk-in clinic can help you get fast, affordable care including filling a prescription, treating common ailments, rashes, allergic reactions, minor sprains, or other minor non-life threatening problems.

2. Make It Convenient

To minimize time spent sitting in a waiting room and get back to your vacation as soon as possible, choose a location that is close to your hotel, condo, or rental property. Do a quick search online for "nearest urgent care" and then call the locations closest to you and ask how long the current wait is to find the fastest and most convenient urgent care option.

3. Ask The Hotel Or Concierge

Your hotel or timeshare concierge are a great place to start your urgent care search. They deal with hundreds of visitors and all sorts of medical conditions on a daily basis and have relationships with the closest urgent care centers. As soon as you determine you need care, make your concierge the first stop on your journey to feeling better.

4. Do Some Research

Once you have a few urgent care locations in mind, go online and read about experiences other visitors have had. Check sites like Yelp, Google Places, Facebook and the urgent care centers' websites for customer testimonials and star ratings. Picking a location that has good reviews and clinic pictures will help you reduce anxiety, make a more informed healthcare decision, and result in a better overall urgent care experience.

5. Consider Telemedicine

For those visitors who are staying in remote locations, or have a problem that can be easily diagnosed over the Internet, like a jellyfish sting, consider telemedicine. The ability to see a doctor from the convenience of your mobile device, tablet, or laptop can help you save a great deal of time. Typically, when you walk into a clinic you have to wait in line, but with a telemedicine visit you can either schedule an appointment with the doctor when it's convenient for you or enter a virtual waiting room. After the online visit the physician can quickly call in your prescription to the nearest pharmacy so you can go back to enjoying your vacation.