Retail Health Care: Redux

So what do you do if you do not have a regular health care provider and you need preventive care or care for a simple illness? According to a new study by the nonprofit RAND Corporation, you are the type of patient who would patronize a retail health clinic.

If you have missed my prior postings on the subject and have not run across the concept elsewhere, a retail health clinic is a small clinic with limited facilities that is located inside another store. Pharmacies and big box stores seem to be the usual locations they spring up in, at least so far.

At the moment, the U.S. has approximately 1,000 of these clinics, and estimations say the number will grow to a possible 6,000 by 2011. The trend is still in its comparative infancy, but like many kids, it seems to be growing fast. The RAND study is the first recorded examination of the patient demographics for this new wave of retail health care.

Via The Washington Post:

"These clinics appear to attract patients who are not routine users of the current health care system. For these patients, the convenience offered by retail clinics may be more important than the continuity provided by a personal physician," lead author Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said in a RAND news release.

The numbers are interesting, and bear out my predictions of earlier posts. People seem to be gravitating to this as an alternative to the perceived cost and hassle of seeing a primary care doctor. To be frank I am looking forward to seeing some of these here in New Orleans. I would certainly consider using them if they were available.

• 43% of Retail Clinic patients were in the 18 to 44 age range as opposed to to 23% of those visiting primary care physician offices.
• 39% percent of Retail Clinic patients had a primary care doctor, compared with 80% surveyed nationally.
• Retail Clinic visits paid for out-of-pocket decreased from 100 percent in 2000 to 16 percent in 2007.
• Roughly 90% of visits to retail clinics were for preventive care (medical tests) or for treatment of simple conditions or immunizations . These same conditions make up 18% of primary care visits and 12% of emergency department visits.
  

SOURCE: "Retail Clinics Attracting Those Without Regular Doctors" 09/10/08
photo courtesy of ernestl, used under its Creative Commons license

Convenient Care Clinics

Web Golinkin, President and CEO of RediClinic, wrote an article in today's Wall Street Journal extolling the virtues of convenient care providers. Golinkin has familiarity with the subject, as RediClinic is one of the largest convenient care providers in the U.S.

Golinkin calls these clinics "[o]ne of the most promising developments" in health care reform. He says that they provide patients easier access to routine care with affordable pricing.

There are currently about 400 such clinics nationwide and Golinkin predicts that there could be several thousand more in the next few years.

Although the medical community was suspicious of convenient care in the beginning, many physicians and professional organizations changed their view when they saw how rapidly consumers embraced the concept and how operators provide high-quality care within a limited scope of practice, treat many patients who do not have established physician relationships (an estimated 30% of all convenient care patients to date), and refer many others. The American Academy of Family Physicians, which represents more than 94,000 family practitioners, recognized that convenient care clinics were filling a need. Rather than opposing the clinics, it published standards of care that it suggested convenient care operators should follow. Operators gladly complied because they had been meeting or exceeding these standards. The Convenient Care Association, which represents more than 20 of the largest operators, subsequently published more stringent standards that their members are now required to meet.

Golinkin is also director and co-founder of the Convenient Care Association.

SOURCE: "Health Care When You Want It" 08/02/07
stock photo courtesy of Michael Connors