Retail clinics don’t make money

I actually thought these things might prosper. I was wrong.

If corporate America, with its ultimate information technology, political pull, and management expertise can’t make these work, how is some solo Johnny GP going to do it?

Management expertise?

The industry keeps talking about sinking $300,000 – $600,000 per clinic before making a profit.

http://tinyurl.com/55yda8

(links to Fierce Healthcare)

That doesn’t look like a good business plan to me. For that money I can build and staff a real physician office with all the bells and whistles. Including real physicians instead of mid-levels. Actually, it cost me less than that to start my own office.

To me, there is not much difference between urgicare and retail clinics. Both are business models designed to maximize profitability. Both deal, in reality, with a similar spectrum of chief complaints. And, in many urgicares, it is hard to locate an actual physician; a lot of staffing is either NP’s or PA’s, frequently without onsite supervision by physicians.

So what is the difference, other than aesthetics, ie the distasteful notion of receiving health care while shopping at Wal-mart?

The old adage “chickens coming home to roost” comes to mind; urgicares undermined, rather than complemented, the role of primary care by robbing “easy” cases and exerting pressure on primary care doctors to keep up and expand access, ie hours, further adding to strain.

Well guess what? Retail clinics are just furthering that philosophy, replacing primary care, and now urgicare in the process.