Retail Clinics
Do we want healthcare to be a quick and convenient consumer service, like a 15-minute oil change - Richard Gunderman MD PhD
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The Undeniable Convenience and Reliability of Retail Health Clinics
My wife and I both work. When one of our children wakes up complaining of a sore throat, we could begin a ritual stare-down to determine which of us is going to have to wait for the doctor’s office to open, make the phone call, wait on hold, schedule an appointment (which will inevitably be in the middle of the day), take off work, pick up the child from school, sit in the waiting room (surrounded by other sick children), get the rapid strep test, find out if the child is infected and then go to the pharmacy or back to school, before returning to work.
Or, one of us could just take the child to a retail clinic on the way to work and be done in 30 minutes. Strep throat is incredibly…
Resources
CVS Health Hub Openings Back On Track After Covid-19 Shutdowns
CVS HealthHubs dedicate more than 20% of the store to health services that include new durable medical equipment, supplies and various new product and service combinations. CVS is adding thousands of new personal care items as well as additional services at its MinuteClinics in the health hub stores.
Can Retail Clinics Transform Health Care?
If retail clinics could overcome the limits of legacy electronic health records to connect to other components of patients’ care, this model could even create a virtual comprehensive “system” as a point of connectivity and care coordination.
How early retail health clinics set the stage for today’s mega-mergers
Looking back, the retail health clinics touched everything we hold dear in health care today. They helped launch the era of patient-centric care; brought price transparency to the industry; made care for most — if not care for all — a possibility by introducing prices that were affordable and accessible; and spotlighted the value of right provider, right place, and right time. Not long after the emergence of retail clinics, the health care industry saw the rise of concierge medicine, urgent care centers, and telemedicine.
Nurse Practitioner Demand Surges As Insurers Push Retail Care
Nurse practitioners are more in demand than all but two categories of physicians as large health providers like UnitedHealth Group’s Optum, CVS Health and insurers work with retailers to reach patients in their communities.
Retail Clinics Are Not the Solution to Health Care
CVS and Walmart may generate lots of revenue from such clinics and therefore are happy to promote them. And some users may get the care they think they need conveniently. But the more satisfactory “solution” is to increase the number of primary care physicians, and for them to organize themselves to better serve their patients.
The Disappearing Doctor: How Mega-Mergers Are Changing the Business of Medical Care
Is the doctor in? In this new medical age of urgent care centers and retail clinics, that’s not a simple question. Nor does it have a simple answer, as primary care doctors become increasingly scarce.
Milk, Bread and... Medical Care? Healthcare goes Retail
Retail medical clinics have done what the healthcare industry has been unable or unwilling to do - give consumers what they want...fast, convenient and affordable care for minor problems.
As Health Care Changes, Insurers, Hospitals and Drugstores Team Up
Former adversaries are banding together, girding against upheaval in a rapidly changing health care environment. They are also bracing for the threats posed by interlopers like Amazon eyeing a foray into the pharmacy business or tech companies offering virtual medical care via a computer or cellphone.
Consume with Care: Could Retail Clinics Help Reduce Hospital Readmissions?
Preliminary findings offer encouragement, but integration with hospitals is key.
Does Convenience Simply Lead to More Health Care?
Is the ability to receive minor medical care at retail health clinics reducing overall health-care spending? It certainly is less expensive, but is the frequency of use offsetting any potential savings?
Here's why CVS stopped selling cigarettes today
If CVS' bets pay off, the lost revenue from cigarettes could eventually be offset by more contracts with health care systems and more visits to their clinics — an ultimate financial win for the company.
Pediatrics Group Balks at Rise of Retail Health Clinics
Retail health clinics that are popping up in drugstores and other outlets shouldn't be used for children's primary-care needs, the American Academy of Pediatrics said, arguing that such facilities don't provide the continuity of care that pediatricians do.
Rapid growth of retail health clinics presents new choices for consumers, payers, and providers
Retail health clinics, which have been around since 2001, and until recently have been profit question marks, are having their moment in the sun.
Retail Clinics Are Expanding Their Role Within the Health Care System
With convenient weekend and after-hours care, retail clinics have the potential to expand access to basic primary care and help address some non-clinical needs underlying the social determinants of health.
Retail Clinics Are Still Here. Now What?
Based on sheer numbers and volume of patient visits, retail clinics could not be called “disruptive innovations” yet. However, they are changing their business models and provoking responses on the part of other healthcare organizations in ways that suggest a larger influence than these measures might suggest.
Retail Clinics May Help Reduce Hospital Readmissions
The reasons behind hospital readmissions are complicated and varied. But experts have argued that hospitals could go a long way toward reducing readmissions by ensuring that patients receive proper follow-up care after discharge. To this end, some hospitals are partnering with retail clinics, such as Walgreens's Take Care Clinic and CVS's MinuteClinic.
Retail health clinics: The pros and cons
Despite all the perks, retail health clinics may not be right for everyone. “Health care is different for older adults. The care you’ll need for even a simple problem might be more complicated.
The Case Against Drugstore Clinics
Stopping at the local CVS is often quicker, cheaper, and easier than going to a hospital or primary-care physician, but it also denies patients the quality care that comes from long-lasting relationships with doctors.
The neighborhood CVS you grew up with is dead. It’s now part of Big Pharma
The company’s shift provides a case study on why it’s better to be a health-care company than a retailer today. The company’s calculation also tells a bigger story about where the US economy is going and where everyday Americans are directing their dollars.
What's Next for Retail Healthcare?
Facing the undeniable popularity of various forms of convenience care, healthcare systems have increasingly gotten into the retail game through partnerships with or creation of store-based clinics, standalone walk-in and urgent care clinics, and supplemental telemedicine services.
What’s the Difference between Walk-in Retail Clinics and Urgent Care Clinics?
With the boom of on-demand healthcare, many types of immediate care are now available to patients. However, the patient can be confused by which place of treatment they should seek. And it’s not surprising, given the similar-sounding names for varying care.
Why Millennials Prefer Retail Clinics and Urgent Care
Millennials are more likely to go to retail clinics and urgent care “because they don’t have a strongly established primary care physician, so they’re looking for a more convenient alternative,” he said. Secondly, retail clinics are better suited to people with fewer chronic illnesses – again, younger people. The third reason, which Mehrotra said was his own belief, not based on research data, has to do with expectations.
Why We’re Picking Walmart And CVS Over Doctors’ Offices
The American health care system may finally be catching up to the rest of the 21st-century economy, in which convenience is not only expected, but demanded — and massive retailers are driving the change.
The Undeniable Convenience and Reliability of Retail Health Clinics
New services that improve access may wind up increasing health care spending. Many people who use retail clinics might be willing to make that trade-off. If physicians want to reclaim that business, they will probably have to offer the same benefits of scheduling and efficiency that retail clinics do. But if we are looking for ways to reduce our national health care spending, retail clinics may not be the prescription we need.
Convenient Care Association
Convenient Care Association is the national trade association of companies and healthcare systems that provide consumers with accessible, affordable, quality healthcare in retail-based locations.
MinuteClinic
Come by when you need us. We'll see you quickly and care for you like you're one of ours. Because health is everything.
Rite Aid Virtual Care
Anywhere RediClinic has elected to close its Texas-area clinics to focus on expanding our convenient telehealth option for our patients. Rite Aid Virtual Care, powered by RediClinic, connects you with a live board-certified clinician through a video visit from the comfort of your home.
Target Clinic
Quality health care for you and your family.
Walmart Health
Wal-Mart is taking an aggressive tack, with in-store branded clinics offering primary health care at a price competitors may find hard to match.
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