Grocery Store Health Clinics--Passing Trend or Shifting Care?

From Bizmology.

"My personal bout with a flu-like virus last weekend allowed me to fulfill the curiosity I’ve had for some time about the rising trend of walk-in health clinics being established within retail locations.

Unsure of whether I would receive quality care, but driven by the desire to not have to wait until Monday to see my regular physician, I drove 10 miles to the nearest non-emergency care clinic that was actually open on weekends, which in this case was a RediClinic located in the local plus-sized H-E-B supermarket and affiliated with regional provider St. David’s Health Care.

As part of my editorial coverage of the health care industry for Hoover’s.com, I have been reading for years about the rise (and sometime the fall) of such clinics, which have been popping up around the country in grocery stores, pharmacies, and other retail outlets.

Convenient care clinics are structured in a variety of ways – they can be operated by independent companies (like Texas-based RediClinic, which partners with retailers and medical care providers), as well as by pharmacy chains, hospital chains, and retail stores themselves. Examples include Walgreen‘s Take Care Clinics, CVS Caremark‘s MinuteClinics, Geisinger Health‘s Careworks Convenient Clinics, and Kroger‘s Little Clinics. Some operators have continued to expand such networks, while others have tried and then abandoned efforts to establish a retail clinic chain.

So my curiosity has been over whether these “convenient care” clinics will be a temporary fad or a permanent addition to the way Americans receive health care. I also wondered how fine a quality of care I would be subject to in such an “in-and-out” type of facility.

As far as my personal experience was concerned, though the wait was obnoxiously long (I pretty much knew that would be the case on a weekend), I was ultimately impressed with the kindness and the thoroughness of care I was given by the clinic’s small staff (one intake clinician and one Physician’s Assistant), as well as the cleanliness and efficiency of the center.

Another driving factor for me, which led me to accept the awkwardness of hanging out in a grocery store for several hours, was the fact that I was able to pay my regular office visit co-pay, as opposed to the ER co-pay I would have had to provide at the urgent care clinic down the road. I would think this would be a bonus to other clinic patrons, especially those who feel that an ER visit should be for an emergency only.

Another benefit of these convenient care clinics is that they eliminate the need to see a primary physician for a minor ailment, which can sometimes be difficult to arrange. In fact, the shortage of primary care physicians is predicted to be an even larger problem in the future as health care reform evolves.

Knowing that health care providers are seeking more ways to cut costs in the face of health care reform, my guess would be that such clinics will continue to emerge, and that as long as they are operated efficiently and in a customer friendly manner, they will continue to grow and thrive."

I clearly see one benefit...to the grocery stores: a captive audience, who can easily be persuaded to peruse the aisles and impulse-buy while they wait for Dr. Feelgood. But hey--if it's all you have access to, at least do your wandering in the produce section!