This letter suggests that these clinics harken back to the days of medicine before HMOs:

Before managed care, health care remained settled within the community: The patient was dispensed medication by the town chemist whose apothecary was at most a few doors down from the office of the local physician.

Since managed care, the patient has had to traverse the self-interested arrangements and managements of organizations that concentrate power so as to largely remove the patient, and physician, from freedom of choice over health-care-related decisions.

Yet during that transformation and into the 21st century, the demands of the patient remain the same as they ever were. At no time in history, regardless of circumstances, have patients wanted anything more than the assurance that their medical needs are well-protected by a trusted relationship. That is, they have always wanted access to services at prices that both they and their health-care provider could agree is just. This appears to be the function of the retail health clinics.