Retail Healthcare News

On the negative side of the column, meanwhile, retail clinic chain Medical Marts has shuttered operations. And more worrisome, for people pushing the retail clinic model, the state of Illinois is pondering rules that would slip in a provision preventing stores that host clinics from selling tobacco or alcohol, a requirement most retailers just couldn’t afford. My gut feeling is that this won’t pass, though you never know how regional politics will play out. It seems transparently on the punitive side, which will turn off all but the most ardent clinic opponents.

Read the rest of this entry »

Walgreens has selected Butler Shine Stern & Partners to handle advertising for the chain’s new in-store health clinic.

Butler, Sausalito, Calif., will be the first marketing agency for Take Care Health System, which was acquired by Walgreens last year. Take Care Health clinics provide medical services to insured and uninsured individuals at Walgreens drugstores in 15 U.S. cities. Walgreens plans to have more than 400 such clinics in commission by the end of 2008.

Walgreens wants to convey the message to consumers that good-quality health care can be affordable and convenient.

Wal-Mart is also aiming to open up about 400 in-store clinics inside its stores by 2010. In February, the retailer announced that its first clinics, in collaboration with local hospitals, will open in April in Atlanta, Little Rock and Dallas under “The Clinic at Wal-Mart” brand.

Read the rest of this entry »

What will be the “Wal-Mart effect” on health care as the retail behemoth proceeds with plans to open walk-in clinics in hundreds of its stores? A post by Jessica Hupp at RNCentral.com describes 20 possible impacts — and most are positive.

Consider this: Isn’t it likely that health care costs will come down as other providers try to compete with Wal-Mart’s lower prices?

Some of the benefits Jessica lists are: more access to immunizations; more-affordable health care — Wal-Mart will charge $65 fee or less for a “get well” visit, compared with the $96 we recently spent out-of-pocket for a brief visit to our physician; better access to health care during off-hours, in rural areas and for the uninsured; and fewer nonemergency patients clogging up emergency rooms.

Read the rest of this entry »

Big-box behemoth Wal-Mart has ventured into the healthcare realm, offering low-cost, walk-in clinics in more and more of its stores every day. Although Wal-Mart medicine may not sound like a great idea at first, these clinics can bring good changes to the health care industry, like insurance-free care, eased emergency rooms, and more widespread treatments. Of course, the plan is not without its drawbacks, creating a “Wal-Mart effect” on small practitioners, as well as a race to the bottom. Here, we’ll take a good look at some of the implications you might not have thought about.

Read the rest of this entry »

At a recent medical conference, I eavesdropped on a couple of doctors talking to each other about retail health clinics, small offices or kiosks that offer basic medical care in venues ranging from Target to Piggly Wiggly. These particular docs were not happy. One said some of his “easy business,” patients who needed only a few minutes to handle, such as those with sore throats or colds, had migrated to the clinics. The other seemed perplexed that some of the parents in his pediatric practice seemed just fine paying cash to clinics, rather than coming to see him, where they had only a low co-pay.

These views don’t surprise me. Doctors are naturally nervous about the rapid growth of retail clinics. About a dozen companies have opened some 400 shops with slogans that range from catchy, such as “You’re sick, we’re quick” (MinuteClinic), to direct, such as “We Make Quality Care Affordable and Convenient” (QuickHealth). According to industry experts, the number of clinics is expected to grow to over 700 this year. Wal-Mart began dabbling in retail health in 2005, when it opened 76 clinics. It says that over the next three to five years, that number could expand to 2,000.

Read the rest of this entry »