In general, walk-in clinics offer lower severity visit types than urgent care clinics. Retail clinics fill the need for quick, uncomplicated healthcare needs that can be served outside the doctor’s office or urgent care. Services include treatment of elementary illnesses, such as a sore throat or earache, or preventative care like vaccines or physical exams. Perhaps the biggest difference is the staff, as retail clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants. This being said, and with the lesser services available, costs of walk-in clinics are generally lower than at an urgent care clinic. While some screening and testing equipment may be available, retail clinics are not equipped to handle urgent health needs, such as lacerations or broken bones. Urgent care centers are also walk-in clinics, and are designed for after-hours ambulatory care. Patients are served on a first-come, first-served basis (scheduled same-day visits may be offered). Urgent care clinics fill patient needs for urgent health needs that do not require an emergency room visit, or when doctor’s offices are closed or booked out. Urgent care clinics serve more pressing illnesses or injuries that are non-life-threatening. Services include splinting and casting for broken bones, laceration and wound or burn repair, and asthma or bronchitis treatment. Additional services may include occupational medicine and workers’ compensation services. Urgent cares have multiple exam rooms, and are staffed by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and medical assistants. Most urgent cares have a full-time, on-site licensed physician, who often serves as a medical director. Payments and co-pays for treatments at urgent cares are lower than those at the emergency room. Urgent cares also offer higher-level diagnostic equipment such as x-ray and phlebotomy, but urgent cares are not equipped to do invasive surgical procedures, or procedures requiring anesthesia and an operating room.