Managed Care - March 2008 - (Page 32) Health Plans Embrace Retail Clinics Convenient care clinics, as they like to be called, are spreading quickly because members and plans like them By Kathryn J. Alexander n the past 12 months retail clinics have spread like a rash over the health care landscape — the kind of rash they can easily treat in 15 minutes or less, for around half the cost of a visit to a traditional primary care physician’s office. At the start of 2007, there were 150 retail clinics. Now, one year later, there are over 900 clinics in major markets across the country, with analysts and operators predicting even more explosive growth. With no high-tech medical equipment, usually no on-site physician, and, until recently, almost no brand name recognition because of its novelty in the marketplace, this health care dynamo appears to be raising expectations for how medical care will be delivered and responding adeptly to the changing behavior of health care consumers. store clinics within the next five to seven years. In addition, an increasing number of hospital systems, most recently the Mayo Clinic, have also established their own clinics, and others are planning to do so. The retail clinic concept has been best described as an example of health care that delivers the right care, in the right place, for the right cost. With an estimated 1 million visitors last year to MinuteClinic, and a reported 360,000 visitors to the Take Care clinics since 2005, this formula for health care MICHAEL A. KELLER/CORBIS I The typical retail clinic Retail clinics are small medical clinics, open seven days a week, with early morning and evening hours. They are mostly in grocery and pharmacy chain stores. Staffed by nurse practitioners and set up to diagnose and treat about 20 common medical conditions, such as ear infections, strep throat, and poison ivy, these clinics provide prompt basic medical services in addition to immunizations and back-to-school physicals — all on a walk-in basis. Retail clinics, also referred to as “convenient care clinics,” are primarily owned by for-profit companies. The two largest are MinuteClinic with 458 clinics and Take Care Health Systems, now owned by Walgreens, with 131 clinics. Both Target and Wal-Mart, which have so far not entered the market in a significant way, now report aggressive plans to put retail clinics in many of their stores. WalMart executives say their chain could have 2,000 in- delivery has clearly attracted consumers and their insurers. Patient or customer? Expectations evolve. The newest generation of consumers, some of them long referred to as the “me” generation, is gradually changing the traditional patient/provider relationship. Increasingly, when it comes to their health care needs, these former patients are now expecting to be treated like customers — valued customers. Not surprisingly, this significant segment of consumers is responding positively to the concept of health 32 MANAGED CARE / MARCH 2008
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