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Want Treatment With Those Pills?
Walk-in clinics are springing up in retail chains nationwide, offering shorter wait times, lower pricesand a challenge for doctors.
By Jennifer Barrett
Newsweek
Updated: 8:34 p.m. CT July 25, 2006
July 25, 2006 - A couple weeks ago, Judy Mui noticed that one of her bug bites had become infected. But the 24-year-old New York City paralegal had just started her job and her employee insurance hadn't yet kicked in. When she called a friend's doctor, she learned a visit would cost her $150. Then a co-worker told her about a walk-in clinic located inside a drugstore just a few blocks away. In 20 minutes, Mui got a diagnosis and two prescriptions from a nurse practitioner at the RediClinic, which she filled at the pharmacy in the same store. Total cost: $45. "This was definitely more convenient and cost effective," she says.
At least six retail clinic chains have emerged in the past few yearsall betting there are millions more like Mui, who either don't have insurance, don't have a provider, or don't have the time to spend in a doctor's office for a minor health problem. "The time for this concept has come," says Brian Jones, CEO of MedXpress, which is opening its first clinic this summer in Texas and expects to have 500 locations nationwide by 2010. "We expect this to be almost a revolution in terms of the delivery-care model," he adds.
More than 100 walk-in clinicswith names like RediClinic, MinuteClinic, and Take Care Healthare already operating in major retail stores like Wal-Mart, CVS and Rite-Aid. There are plans to open several hundred more locations within the next few years. Generally staffed by a nurse practitioner instead of a physician, the clinics stay open on weekday evenings and weekends. They offer basic services for patients 18 months and older, ranging from vaccinations to diagnostic screenings to prescriptions and treatment for minor problems like sore throats, skin infections and sprained ankles. Though most now accept insurance, even the out-of-pocket prices are generally relatively lowfrom about $40 to $100, depending on the service. RediClinic, where Mui was treated, won't begin accepting insurance until next month, yet more than half of the patients seen there (the company won't reveal precise patient figures) are insured. "They're willing to pay for convenience," says Webster Golinkin, CEO of InterFit Health, which operates RediClinic.
Richard Scott, chairman of the Florida-based Solantic, which operates a dozen clinics in Florida and plans to open as many as 1,000 locations across the country over the next five years, notes that there are more than 40 million uninsured Americansand millions more who can't get a timely appointment to see their primary care provider, don't have a provider, or don't want to spend the money or time to go to the emergency room. "There is a significant need for clinics like these to treat episodic problems," he adds.
So far, consumers seem to agree. MinuteClinic chief executive Michael Howe (the former CEO of the fast-food chain Arby's) declined to comment on the chain's profitability. But he said that more than half-a-million patients have visited the clinics since the first location opened in Minnesota six years ago. It now has 83 clinics, with plans for 250 in 19 states by year's endmany of them in CVS stores. Earlier this month, CVS Corporation (the country's largest drugstore chain, with more than 6,100 pharmacies) announced it would acquire the Minneapolis-based company. "We did some research and couldn't believe the customer receptivity to these clinics. We really think this fills a void," says CVS CEO Tom Ryan. "It's an easy affordable way to get high quality access to good healthcare."
Even former AOL chairman Stephen Case is staking a claim in the growing market. In July 2005, he founded Revolution Health Group, now InterFit Health's largest investor. Though there are only 11 RediClinic locations now, the company expects to open 75 in the next year and have about 500 locations within the next three years. "Convenient care can revolutionize how patients deal with simple health problems, and how they get help staying well," says Case.
Howe, Case and others stress that the clinics aren't intended to replace but to complement doctor's offices; they don't treat chronic ailments or serious health problems. Still, there's little question that they're siphoning away some business by offering lower prices, shorter wait times and longer opening hours. How much, though, is unclear. A report issued by the American Medical Association in June expressed concerns about the impact that clinics would have on physicians' practices and on patient care. But many AMA members in areas with retail clinics told the writers of the report that clinics have so far done an effective job of referring patients to providers for more serious or chronic problems.
Still, the report did note that the popularity of the clinics has prompted many physicians to consider extending their own hours and set aside time each day to accommodate walk-in patients with immediate needs. Some have even joined clinics like Solantic, one of the few chains to staff its clinics with doctors. Others have agreed to serve in advisory roles for clinics.
Dr. Larry Fields, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, says his group's members have also been able to weather the competition, so far though some have adapted their practices to accommodate more patients. Last month, the AAFP issued a list of "desired attributes" for retail clinic practices, recommending the use of referrals for more serious cases, electronic medical records (which can be transmitted to the patient's primary provider) and a clearly definedand limitedscope of services. "To the credit of many of these clinics, they've endorsed the guidelines," says Fields.
Still, he worries that the walk-in clinics may be tempted to expand the range of their services as they grow. "They may want a bigger piece of the market and that's a concern," he says. "In today's complex world of healthcare, patients really need to have a medical home." For most Americans, that's still a doctor's officefor now, at least.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14014782/site/newsweek/?GT1=8307
Walk-in clinics are springing up in retail chains nationwide, offering shorter wait times, lower pricesand a challenge for doctors.
By Jennifer Barrett
Newsweek
Updated: 8:34 p.m. CT July 25, 2006
July 25, 2006 - A couple weeks ago, Judy Mui noticed that one of her bug bites had become infected. But the 24-year-old New York City paralegal had just started her job and her employee insurance hadn't yet kicked in. When she called a friend's doctor, she learned a visit would cost her $150. Then a co-worker told her about a walk-in clinic located inside a drugstore just a few blocks away. In 20 minutes, Mui got a diagnosis and two prescriptions from a nurse practitioner at the RediClinic, which she filled at the pharmacy in the same store. Total cost: $45. "This was definitely more convenient and cost effective," she says.
At least six retail clinic chains have emerged in the past few yearsall betting there are millions more like Mui, who either don't have insurance, don't have a provider, or don't have the time to spend in a doctor's office for a minor health problem. "The time for this concept has come," says Brian Jones, CEO of MedXpress, which is opening its first clinic this summer in Texas and expects to have 500 locations nationwide by 2010. "We expect this to be almost a revolution in terms of the delivery-care model," he adds.
More than 100 walk-in clinicswith names like RediClinic, MinuteClinic, and Take Care Healthare already operating in major retail stores like Wal-Mart, CVS and Rite-Aid. There are plans to open several hundred more locations within the next few years. Generally staffed by a nurse practitioner instead of a physician, the clinics stay open on weekday evenings and weekends. They offer basic services for patients 18 months and older, ranging from vaccinations to diagnostic screenings to prescriptions and treatment for minor problems like sore throats, skin infections and sprained ankles. Though most now accept insurance, even the out-of-pocket prices are generally relatively lowfrom about $40 to $100, depending on the service. RediClinic, where Mui was treated, won't begin accepting insurance until next month, yet more than half of the patients seen there (the company won't reveal precise patient figures) are insured. "They're willing to pay for convenience," says Webster Golinkin, CEO of InterFit Health, which operates RediClinic.
Richard Scott, chairman of the Florida-based Solantic, which operates a dozen clinics in Florida and plans to open as many as 1,000 locations across the country over the next five years, notes that there are more than 40 million uninsured Americansand millions more who can't get a timely appointment to see their primary care provider, don't have a provider, or don't want to spend the money or time to go to the emergency room. "There is a significant need for clinics like these to treat episodic problems," he adds.
So far, consumers seem to agree. MinuteClinic chief executive Michael Howe (the former CEO of the fast-food chain Arby's) declined to comment on the chain's profitability. But he said that more than half-a-million patients have visited the clinics since the first location opened in Minnesota six years ago. It now has 83 clinics, with plans for 250 in 19 states by year's endmany of them in CVS stores. Earlier this month, CVS Corporation (the country's largest drugstore chain, with more than 6,100 pharmacies) announced it would acquire the Minneapolis-based company. "We did some research and couldn't believe the customer receptivity to these clinics. We really think this fills a void," says CVS CEO Tom Ryan. "It's an easy affordable way to get high quality access to good healthcare."
Even former AOL chairman Stephen Case is staking a claim in the growing market. In July 2005, he founded Revolution Health Group, now InterFit Health's largest investor. Though there are only 11 RediClinic locations now, the company expects to open 75 in the next year and have about 500 locations within the next three years. "Convenient care can revolutionize how patients deal with simple health problems, and how they get help staying well," says Case.
Howe, Case and others stress that the clinics aren't intended to replace but to complement doctor's offices; they don't treat chronic ailments or serious health problems. Still, there's little question that they're siphoning away some business by offering lower prices, shorter wait times and longer opening hours. How much, though, is unclear. A report issued by the American Medical Association in June expressed concerns about the impact that clinics would have on physicians' practices and on patient care. But many AMA members in areas with retail clinics told the writers of the report that clinics have so far done an effective job of referring patients to providers for more serious or chronic problems.
Still, the report did note that the popularity of the clinics has prompted many physicians to consider extending their own hours and set aside time each day to accommodate walk-in patients with immediate needs. Some have even joined clinics like Solantic, one of the few chains to staff its clinics with doctors. Others have agreed to serve in advisory roles for clinics.
Dr. Larry Fields, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, says his group's members have also been able to weather the competition, so far though some have adapted their practices to accommodate more patients. Last month, the AAFP issued a list of "desired attributes" for retail clinic practices, recommending the use of referrals for more serious cases, electronic medical records (which can be transmitted to the patient's primary provider) and a clearly definedand limitedscope of services. "To the credit of many of these clinics, they've endorsed the guidelines," says Fields.
Still, he worries that the walk-in clinics may be tempted to expand the range of their services as they grow. "They may want a bigger piece of the market and that's a concern," he says. "In today's complex world of healthcare, patients really need to have a medical home." For most Americans, that's still a doctor's officefor now, at least.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14014782/site/newsweek/?GT1=8307