Health clinics in stores make access easier
by Cliff Peale on Apr. 29, 2008, under Edge
A sign outside of the Walgreens drugstore in Sharonville, Ohio, advertises the Take Care health clinic inside the store. Retail clinics inside stores are one of the biggest trends in health care.
When Pam Sherrill woke up on a recent Sunday morning with a sinus infection, she could have gone to a local urgent care center, or to the hospital emergency room. Or she could have waited until Monday morning and seen her doctor.
Instead, Sherrill went to a new Take Care Health Systems clinic inside a Walgreens store in Sharonville, Ohio. After a visit with nurse practitioner Allison Mack, she paid her $20 insurance co-pay and in less than an hour, she had antibiotics from the pharmacy only a few steps away.
“It’s less expensive than an emergency room or urgent care,” Sherrill said. “And I feel like I get better one-to-one attention.”
With patients looking for more access to medical care and many doctors’ groups struggling to expand their hours, more people are turning to retail clinics inside stores.
Usually staffed by a nurse practitioner with the ability to write prescriptions, the units provide care ranging from flu shots to physical examinations for summer camps. Services generally cost $50 to $80 and charges are spelled out in advance. Most clinics accept insurance.
The clinics have caused controversy. In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino waged a public campaign to limit the number of MinuteClinics inside CVS drugstores, saying the clinics “will seriously compromise quality of care.”
But with patients looking for health care when and where it’s most convenient, those concerns have not stopped the trend.
There could be 1,500 clinics by the end of this year, up from only a few dozen in 2005, according to Fitness magazine.
Their popularity stems from the difficulty patients have getting convenient appointments, particularly in the evening or on weekends. Forty percent of those visiting clinics said they otherwise would have gone to the emergency room, according to Fitness.
Clinics also are cheaper and more efficient than sending uninsured or underinsured patients to emergency rooms, where costs are absorbed by the hospitals and perhaps passed on to paying patients.
Paula Lafranconi, a doctor at Group Health Associates in Springdale, Ohio, said the clinics are a good choice for patients suffering from acute conditions such as bronchitis, as long as the patients are referred to doctors for chronic conditions or those requiring more medical attention.
Lafranconi acknowledged the clinics could take patients away from doctors, who often are reimbursed by insurers based on how many patients they treat.
Many of the nation’s retail goliaths are getting into the business of clinics, hoping to reach an untapped portion of the crowded health-care field.
Chicago-based Walgreen Co. made a huge splash last year with the purchase of Take Care. CVS is following a similar strategy with MinuteClinics.
The world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, plans up to 2,000 clinics in the next half-dozen years. Kroger Co., with nearly 2,500 supermarkets nationwide, has been more cautious with only about 30 clinics.
At the Take Care clinics, flu shots are $24.99 and a sports physical costs $55. The nurse practitioners encourage patients to find a doctor or other “health-care home,” even referring them to doctors in the area, said Janie Hague, the lead nurse practitioner for the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky market.
Nurse practitioners are trained as nurses but also get advanced training and a national certification.
The clinics are open all week and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Traffic picks up on weekend afternoons and holidays, Hague said.
“People like to know what they have to pay,” she said. “It’s calming. This is a good way for them to get entry into the health-care system.”
Nurse-practitioner Allison Mack examines patient Terrell Davis at the Take Care health clinic inside the Walgreens drugstore in Sharonville, Ohio. Retail clinics inside stores are one of the biggest trends in health care.
