The convenience and lower costs of using medical clinics in retail locations - pharmacies, supermarkets or discount stores - is increasing their usage, a University of Michigan study found.

One in six parents have taken their children to retail clinics if the offices are nearby, the study found. And one in four parents surveyed are likely to take their children to retail clinics in the future, according to findings by the U-M C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.

Retail clinics usually don’t require an appointment to be seen by a licensed health care professional. The clinics provide routine care like vaccinations and physicals and can treat common health problems like sore throats, pinkeye and ear infections.

Health insurance companies covered all or part of about 78 percent of retail clinic visits, the study found.

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Walk-in retail clinics, launched in Minnesota eight years ago, continue to carve a niche as providers of basic, uncomplicated health care. Despite recent missteps, slower than anticipated growth and opposition from physician groups, the clinics are becoming an established member of the nation’s health care delivery system, and health plans increasingly are contracting with them.

The reasons: cost, convenience, growing consumer and employer acceptance, generally high-quality care, and a recognition that these clinics can help relieve pressure on overburdened (and expensive) hospital emergency rooms (ERs). Large and small insurers (as well as Medicare) cover their services, typically with modest copayments. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota recently dropped its required copays to encourage member use of local retail clinics.

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John White was running a low fever, his sinuses and ears felt full and he was tired, so he walked into a Bradenton medical clinic.

Valerie Fortunato asked a series of questions about his medical history, then performed an examination including checking his ears, eyes and throat, and listening to his lungs and heart.

In about 30 minutes, White left with a diagnosis of a sinus infection and prescriptions for antibiotics, antihistamine and a nasal steroid.

Fortunato is an advanced registered nurse practitioner, and her clinic is a gray-walled box inside a Publix supermarket.

Welcome to another facet of the future of medicine.

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Convenience and lower costs are driving even more parents to seek routine health care for their children – including vaccinations and physicals – at retail clinics in their communities.

What’s more, the number of retail clinics is growing: Nearly 30 percent of parents report having a retail clinic in their community, making this emerging source of health care for children often simpler and more accessible than an appointment at a doctor’s office.

These findings – released today by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health – also reveal that in communities with nearby retail clinics, one in six parents have taken their children there for care, while one in four parents are likely in the future to take their children to a nearby retail clinic for care.

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You’re enjoying a weekend getaway and wake up in your hotel room with a sore throat and high fever. You’re about to leave Disney and your child complains of ear pain. Where should you go for treatment?

Urgent care centers: These deliver ambulatory care in facilities outside of the hospital. They see people on a walk-in basis without an appointment. They are appropriate for people with an injury or illness that requires immediate care but is not necessarily serious enough to warrant an emergency room visit. Urgent care centers are not open 24 hours a day but most have weekend and evening hours.

Urgent care centers treat many problems generally covered in primary care physicians’ offices and also offer services that are generally not available such as X-rays.

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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.

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