February 23, 2007
In-Store Clinics AOK with Medical Journal
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has concluded that in-store medical clinics have so far been shown to protect the health of patients even while they may pose some competition for doctors involved in primary care.
According to the publication, in-store clinics render basic services usually at a less expensive price than visiting a doctor’s office. They also offer patients a level of scheduling flexibility not found in the traditional doctor’s offices
The article pointed to research that showed consumer usage of in-store clinics is expected to increase dramatically. According to a 2005 survey, only seven percent of respondents reported having uses a service similar to that offered by in-store clinics, but 41 percent said they would be likely to do so.
With the number of in-store clinics opening on an exponential basis (look at the lofty plans of CVS with its MinuteClinic purchase), the numbers of consumers using these services will only increase.
According to the NEJM, “Affiliations with drugstores benefit both partners: patients appreciate the convenience of being able to fill prescriptions on the spot, and the clinic draws customers to the store.”
Discussion Questions: Do consumers share the same concerns over quality of care as those expressed by members of the medical community? Do you think the type of store that offers an in-store clinic (drugstore, supermarket, discount store, etc.) plays a role in how consumers perceive the level of care at that location?
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We have a health care crisis in America partly because the system is so expensive and restrictive.
One way to reduce the cost of health care and make it more broadly available is to let market forces operate. That means letting the consumer dictate how they want to purchase health care just as they decide where to shop for clothes. At one time, you needed a prescription to get many items now commonly available over the counter.
Does every health care concern require a brain surgeon? Local clinics may be a convenient and efficient vehicle to fill a need and help address the health care crisis.
In-store clinics are a wonderful move in the right direction. Every hospital emergency room uses triage to separate the life-threatened people from the less-urgent cases. In-store clinics are self-triage. There’s a continuum starting at self-diagnosis and self-medication with OTC drugs. The first escalation step could logically be an in-store clinic run by a nurse. The next escalation step could be an MD. It’s not a good use of an MD’s time to give flu shots. And insurance company reimbursements to MD’s for low-skill services like flu shots are peanuts, anyway.
There is a health care crisis in the U.S. that needs to be resolved. Lots of organizations and people talk about fixing it but creating in-store clinics so consumers can receive prompt reasonably-priced health care for common problems is one of the few solutions that is making progress. We need more innovative attempts at addressing health care issues. They may not all succeed but at least there would be movement toward a resolution.
I think I understood “competition” differently to the rest of you (so what else is new?). My reaction was that the different retailers and private companies setting up the clinics would be motivated by competition. It didn’t occur to me, until I read the linked article and what others said, that doctors would worry about competition. But that’s the American way, I guess. Doctors have to watch their bottom line, just like everyone else.
My interpretation of competition gives rise to my own concerns about this model. The different retailers will start escalating their offers to get customers (ooops, sorry, patients) into the clinics and into the pharmacies to fill their prescriptions. I am also concerned about the possibilities for abusing the system by people who know that their records will not be relevant or seen or queried. And by the potential crowds and lengthy waits if, in fact, the system does become popular. And finally, before I sign off for the weekend and head out for a pizza and a movie, I am concerned about the rest of the people in the store who are not sick (see the article in Progressive Grocer, Feb 1 to see what I mean) being exposed to those who have flu or a sore throat or whatever and are too sick to work but don’t want to sit in the doctor’s waiting room. Better they should sit around in a store full of innocent and healthy shoppers? Sounds a good way to put off the people who have come for basics like blood pressure checks, vaccinations etc. Or maybe a good way to increase the unhealthy people so they come back for another appointment?
The medical communities concerns over in-store health clinics is self serving and their pangs are long overdue.
If a survey were to be conducted to test health care customers’ levels of satisfaction concerning convenience, price and satisfaction of treatment, I wonder what it would tell us.
It’s about time alternatives to the over regulated and under performing medical industry become available to those who need them most.
Unfortunately we’ve seen the political power that these health care segments can generate (remember the pharma industry reaction to Canada providing inexpensive alternatives to the American consumers?).
I’m in the Clinics corner on this one.
I have visited a lot of stores with in-store clinics and I have yet to see one that is doing much business. So far all I’m seeing is a bored nurse handing pamphlets and free pens. One opened up near my house and the only thing they can do is blood screenings, vaccines, bee stings, and runny noses. They charge about $40 for a visit. I could see maybe using one of these clinics once every two years or so at most. I think the assumption is that people who lack insurance will flock to these clinics but so far I just do see it happening. Maybe I have blinders on and haven’t “gotten it” yet.
We must remember, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” And I don’t believe the ideal model has yet been determined for the in-store clinic to be cost-effective, however I agree with others in this discussion when they cite it is a step in the right direction. Putting accessible, affordable healthcare in a convenient and wellness-focused setting makes tremendous sense. Of course, for this concept to arrive, the sense must lead to cents.
Should MDs feel threatened? Absolutely. We have a health care crisis in this nation and it needs to be challenged, re-invented and commercially viable. That all points to competition – and I don’t think in-store clinics will be the last competitive threat MDs face … complementary medicine may pose a more significant short- and long-term foe to the traditional Western approach.
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We have a health care crisis in America partly because the system is so expensive and restrictive.
One way to reduce the cost of health care and make it more broadly available is to let market forces operate. That means letting the consumer dictate how they want to purchase health care just as they decide where to shop for clothes. At one time, you needed a prescription to get many items now commonly available over the counter.
Does every health care concern require a brain surgeon? Local clinics may be a convenient and efficient vehicle to fill a need and help address the health care crisis.
In-store clinics are a wonderful move in the right direction. Every hospital emergency room uses triage to separate the life-threatened people from the less-urgent cases. In-store clinics are self-triage. There’s a continuum starting at self-diagnosis and self-medication with OTC drugs. The first escalation step could logically be an in-store clinic run by a nurse. The next escalation step could be an MD. It’s not a good use of an MD’s time to give flu shots. And insurance company reimbursements to MD’s for low-skill services like flu shots are peanuts, anyway.
There is a health care crisis in the U.S. that needs to be resolved. Lots of organizations and people talk about fixing it but creating in-store clinics so consumers can receive prompt reasonably-priced health care for common problems is one of the few solutions that is making progress. We need more innovative attempts at addressing health care issues. They may not all succeed but at least there would be movement toward a resolution.
I think I understood “competition” differently to the rest of you (so what else is new?). My reaction was that the different retailers and private companies setting up the clinics would be motivated by competition. It didn’t occur to me, until I read the linked article and what others said, that doctors would worry about competition. But that’s the American way, I guess. Doctors have to watch their bottom line, just like everyone else.
My interpretation of competition gives rise to my own concerns about this model. The different retailers will start escalating their offers to get customers (ooops, sorry, patients) into the clinics and into the pharmacies to fill their prescriptions. I am also concerned about the possibilities for abusing the system by people who know that their records will not be relevant or seen or queried. And by the potential crowds and lengthy waits if, in fact, the system does become popular. And finally, before I sign off for the weekend and head out for a pizza and a movie, I am concerned about the rest of the people in the store who are not sick (see the article in Progressive Grocer, Feb 1 to see what I mean) being exposed to those who have flu or a sore throat or whatever and are too sick to work but don’t want to sit in the doctor’s waiting room. Better they should sit around in a store full of innocent and healthy shoppers? Sounds a good way to put off the people who have come for basics like blood pressure checks, vaccinations etc. Or maybe a good way to increase the unhealthy people so they come back for another appointment?
The medical communities concerns over in-store health clinics is self serving and their pangs are long overdue.
If a survey were to be conducted to test health care customers’ levels of satisfaction concerning convenience, price and satisfaction of treatment, I wonder what it would tell us.
It’s about time alternatives to the over regulated and under performing medical industry become available to those who need them most.
Unfortunately we’ve seen the political power that these health care segments can generate (remember the pharma industry reaction to Canada providing inexpensive alternatives to the American consumers?).
I’m in the Clinics corner on this one.
I have visited a lot of stores with in-store clinics and I have yet to see one that is doing much business. So far all I’m seeing is a bored nurse handing pamphlets and free pens. One opened up near my house and the only thing they can do is blood screenings, vaccines, bee stings, and runny noses. They charge about $40 for a visit. I could see maybe using one of these clinics once every two years or so at most. I think the assumption is that people who lack insurance will flock to these clinics but so far I just do see it happening. Maybe I have blinders on and haven’t “gotten it” yet.
We must remember, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” And I don’t believe the ideal model has yet been determined for the in-store clinic to be cost-effective, however I agree with others in this discussion when they cite it is a step in the right direction. Putting accessible, affordable healthcare in a convenient and wellness-focused setting makes tremendous sense. Of course, for this concept to arrive, the sense must lead to cents.
Should MDs feel threatened? Absolutely. We have a health care crisis in this nation and it needs to be challenged, re-invented and commercially viable. That all points to competition – and I don’t think in-store clinics will be the last competitive threat MDs face … complementary medicine may pose a more significant short- and long-term foe to the traditional Western approach.