Hospitals and physicians’ offices want a piece of the action:

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined how an increased number of traditional health care providers — “driven by the threat of new competition, the opportunity to recruit new patients” and quality of care issues — have begun to compete with and enter agreements with retail clinics — low-cost, walk-in facilities often located in supermarkets, pharmacies and large retail stores. Some large regional health care systems have opened clinics to compete by with nurse practitioners. In addition, some medical groups and physician offices have signed contracts to supervise staff at retail clinics and have reached referral agreements with the facilities.