Retail Healthcare News

Instead, Sherrill went to the new Take Care Health Systems clinic inside a Walgreens store on Lebanon Road in Sharonville.

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,” said Sherrill, of Sycamore Township. “And I feel like I get better one-to-one attention.”

Retail clinics inside stores are one of the biggest trends in health care.

With patients looking for more access to medical care and many doctors’ groups struggling to expand their hours, more people are turning to facilities inside stores.

Usually staffed by a nurse-practitioner with the ability to write prescriptions, the units provide care ranging from relief from coughs and colds to flu shots to physicals 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.

From only a few dozen clinics in 2005, there could be 1,500 by the end of this year, according to Fitness magazine.

The popularity stems from the difficulty patients have getting convenient appointments, particularly in the evening or on weekends.

According to the magazine, 40 percent of those visiting clinics said they would otherwise have gone to the emergency room.

It’s the latest wrinkle in a health-care delivery system under siege as patients, doctors and insurance companies struggle to control costs and maintain access.

CHEAPER THAN THE ER

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, said the clinics can be good for patients for acute conditions such as bronchitis, as long as they are referred to doctors for chronic conditions or those requiring more medical attention.

“I think patients want convenience and they want access,” she said. “In some respects, these clinics are a good thing.”

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, 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. It has opened in six stores in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, the latest in Colerain Township, and plans to open in 10 more.

CVS is following a similar strategy with MinuteClinics, although none of those stores is open in this region yet. The world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, plans up to 2,000 clinics in the next half-dozen years.

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., with nearly 2,500 supermarkets nationwide, has been more cautious with only about 30 clinics. It has partnered with different operators for pilots in Columbus and Louisville and is working with a local doctors group in Dayton to open clinics in two stores there.

REFERRALS TO DOCTORS

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.”

Source: The Enquirer
Original Publication Date: April 14, 2008