Medical clinics located in grocery and drug stores promise convenient health care for common ailments such as strep throat or vaccinations. Patients don’t need an appointment, and a licensed nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant, rather than a staff physician, administers care.
Backers say such clinics provide an inexpensive option for people in need of quick treatment for minor health issues. These clinics, which typically charge a small fee for each service, also provide an option for people who lack health insurance.
But the rapid nationwide spread of in-store clinics has caught the attention of some doctors’ groups. The American Medical Association this year said retail health clinics may pose a health risk to consumers by quickly treating patients for minor conditions that may be symptoms of larger health problems and urged federal and state regulatory agencies to take a hard look.
Nationwide, MinuteClinic, based in Minneapolis and a subsidiary of CVS/Caremark, plans to open locations in 2,500 CVS stores across the country over the next few years. A MinuteClinic spokesman said there are currently no plans for one in Lafayette.
Wal-Mart operates retail health clinics in 12 states, including Louisiana, with clinics in Covington, Hammond, Houma, La Place and Thibadaux. Wal-Mart has no plans to open anymore at this time, a spokeswoman said. Target has recently opened its first clinics in Minnesota and Maryland.
Dr. Joshua Holland, MediMin’s chief medical officer, said the clinics help a strained health care system pare unnecessary visits to urgent-care facilities or hospital emergency rooms.
“It is prohibitively expensive to take care of a sore throat or a urinary-tract infection at an ER,” Holland said. “We can do that here.”
The Arizona Medical Association is among the groups that believe retail health clinics need regulatory oversight to ensure patient safety.
“I think they need to be watched carefully in the same way we watch ourselves,” said Chic Older, executive vice president of the Arizona Medical Association.
Retail clinic representatives insist they do not intend to replace primary-care doctors and do not pretend to offer services they cannot handle. They offer a menu of health-care services that vary from chain to chain, along with fixed prices charged for these services.
For example, customers of The Little Clinic, a Brentwood, Tenn., chain, can get a cholesterol test for $20, a pre-employment physical for $45 or a flu vaccine for $30. The process is quick, with most customers typically in and out within15 to 20 minutes, said Lisa Loscalzo, The Little Clinic’s executive vice president of business development.
The clinics usually do not have sophisticated equipment such as X-ray machines that are needed to diagnose and treat more complicated medical problems. If a doctor is needed, the clinics say they provide patients with names of licensed physicians. They also encourage their customers to maintain a primary care physician.
Source: The Daily Advertiser
Original Publication Date: January 25, 2008
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