I’ve kinda learned over time what is appropriate for what through personal experience or by listening to others. I also ask myself questions like can it wait a couple of days? Being in America I also ask myself is it worth going to the ER for this? Someone mentioned too that a lot of insurance companies now have nurses you can call for this sort of help.

If you genuinely think it’s life threatening, go to the ER. If it’s something that isn’t life threatening but should be taken care of ASAP, then Urgent care is a good choice. Something like a broken bone, stitches. They have a lot of equipment. If they can’t treat you or discover it’s something worse they will send you to the ER.

I had an issue with heart palpitations a few year ago. I went to my primary care doctor and then went to a specialist. I think total it cost like 300$ or something. I was worried it was something worse yeah it turned out to be stress and anxiety. But the specialist did rule out any heart problems which included those scary ones where healthy people drop dead. That was worth the peace of mind. If I had gone to the urgent care they would have ruled out any immediate life threatening conditions and then have you follow up with your pcp or maybe get you to the specialist.