The Medical Minute: Cold or flu? Visit your doctor, not the ER

Thursday, January 17, 2013

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — During cold and flu season, most of us inevitably will experience one or more acute illness. Fortunately, most acute problems are treatable without hospital admission. With that in mind, doctors say it is important to seek care in the proper place for the best possible treatment, outcome, cost and satisfaction.

According to Ryan Ridenour, family physician and member of the Penn State Hershey hospitalist team at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, many times people utilize the emergency room (ER) for problems that are far better suited for their primary care doctor.