Are retail clinics living up to expectations?

December 16, 2008

Growth has been very modest, which is not a surprise.

If physician offices have trouble staying afloat, repackaging office-based care and putting it in a Wal-Mart or drug store isn’t going to automatically make a broken business model profitable.

This obvious fact seems to have taken some by surprise, as a study notes that “retail clinics have turned out to be more complex and costly to operate than expected.”

Retail clinics however, has made physician offices more competitive, with some adding more hours and increasing same-day appointments.

Increasing physician access and improving patient service are keys to primary care survival, and if anything, the proliferation of retail clinics provided a stark reminder of that.

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Tagged as: patient, primary care

{ 3 comments }

1 Van Santos December 17, 2008 at 10:47 am: I think there a number of things to look at when it comes to retail clinics.

1) Walmart, CVS (et al) have a critical mass the little guy can never achieve, thereby providing no major overhead cost. The stores already own the retail space, so the major costs are salary and insurance.

That alone will work in favor of profit

2) The retail approach ties right into the Pharmacy. Need something filled, just walk to the counter on the other side of the aisle. Again, this works rather effectively when it comes to making a profit – you have a captive audience.

3) The health care industry is driving toward a retail mentality (it’s simply a service, let’s find the best price). As such, retail providers have the potential to provide better pricing for the consumer.

Best,
Van
http://vansantos.com
2 Anonymous December 17, 2008 at 9:48 pm: I think it is a conflict of intertes to allow a clinic to reside within a pharmacy. I mean you go there, get a diagnosis and get your Rx filled at the same place?
As a pediatrician, a few of my patients went to these clinics, told they had an ear infection and what drug do they get prescribed? Well it wasn’t Amoxicillin, that’s for sure. Nope, it was a more expensive drug that actually makes the pharmacy some money.
I think it is utterly ridiculous that we allow these clinics to exist. And for some reason the american public is ok with this. yet, they aren’t OK with drug reps talking with physicians. Pretty weird…but for some reason, the AMA has decided that drug companies can’t give out pens anymore to physicians…I guess because we physicians are too easily persuaded…meaning if we have a pen that says linezolid on it…we will prescribe it even when it isn’t indicated. GIVE ME A BREAK. Yet, we allow mid-level providers to provide care in retail pharmacy clinics. WHAT A DISGRACE.
3 Anonymous December 18, 2008 at 9:42 am: I would much rather have a doctor-patient relationship built on trust. But reality is that primary care doctors don’t have time to provide that kind of care. My primary doc doesn’t want anything to do with me on an urgent basis. I use the retail clinics to get care when I need it. I know the NP’s better than my PCP.