Getting emergency and urgent care
Getting emergency care
A medical emergency is a medical problem so serious that you have to get care right away or you could be permanently disabled or die. Jump down this page for examples.
Get help immediately. Then call your primary care doctor or other primary health care provider's (PCP's) office as soon as possible for follow-up care. If you are in an HMO or POS plan, your PCP must coordinate any follow-up and continuing care.
Note: If you go to the emergency room and it's not an emergency, your health insurance may not pay for the visit.
Getting urgent care
An urgent medical problem is not life-threatening, but needs to be treated in the next 24 hours to keep it from getting worse.
If you're in our service area
- If you have a primary care doctor or other primary health care provider (a "PCP"), call him or her. A PCP knows their patients' medical history and is in the best position to evaluate your needs. If you are in an HMO or POS plan, your PCP must coordinate any follow-up and continuing care.
- If your PCP is unavailable, go to an urgent care center in your plan's network. Use the online Find a Doctor directory to find an urgent care center. Call your PCP's office as soon as possible to coordinate follow-up care.
Go to the Find a Doctor directory now.
If you're out of our service area
- Call your PCP for advice. If you are in an HMO or POS plan, your PCP must coordinate any urgent and follow-up care you get.
- If you can't reach your PCP's office or wait until you return to Priority Health's service area, you should go to a doctor's office, after-hours care center or hospital for treatment.
- After you get urgent care, call your PCP's office to coordinate follow-up care.
If you have questions about emergency or urgent care coverage, contact Customer Service.
Some examples of emergencies
- Injury to eyes or ears
- Trouble breathing after taking medication or being bitten by an insect
- A broken bone
- Chest or upper stomach pain
- Coughing up or throwing up blood
- Pain in the chest and one arm
- Bleeding that won't stop
- Poisoning or drug overdose
- Seizure
- Sudden dizziness or weakness
- Slurred speech
- Sudden difficulty seeing
