Retail Based Health Clinics and their impact

Retail-based health care clinics, which provide basic preventative services and diagnose and treat simple health ailments, have been on the rise in recent years. As of December 2015, there were more than 2,000 retail clinics located in 42 States across America and are playing a steadily growing role in the health care marketplace. Loretta Gallagher, an expert in electronic medical records and founder and owner of Gallagher Associates, LLC provides some insight into this emerging health care trend and what its overall impact may be.

Retail Based Health Clinics

Retail clinics have been proposed as an alternative to costly emergency department care for nonemergency conditions. It is estimated that roughly 20 percent of emergency department visits for a nonemergency condition could take place at a retail clinic, potentially generating cost savings as high as $4.4 billion annually. Loretta Gallagher explains that the retail model is relatively straight-forward: they offer a limited menu of mainly acute medical services on a walk-in basis, provide care through nurse practitioners with lower salaries than physicians, and locate in small and inexpensive retail spaces for easy patient access.

In 2016, total US retail clinic sales are estimated at more than $14 billion, an increase of 20.3% per year from $518 million in 2010. Some have said that few things in the health care industry have been as disruptive as retail clinics, as they could either threaten or complement five major areas of health care: hospitals, doctor’s offices, government and private insurance payors, pharmaceutical and device makers.

Consumer Response

There are several national and independent surveys that indicate that customers have responded quite favorably to retail clinics to date, with rating of around 90 percent related to care, convenience, and cost. Loretta Gallagher explains that with extended hours, easier accessibility and no appointments necessary, it is easy to see why the response from patients has been so positive. Interviews with, and data provided by, several clinic providers reveal that to date, around 95 to 98 percent of patients coming to clinics with conditions were able to be treated by clinic staff. One of the greatest concerns has easily been the quality of care, and yet an early study, which analyzed over 57,000 patient visits, documents better than 99 percent adherence to clinical guidelines. From a patient’s perspective, being able to view set prices online for a clinic is convenient, and one doctor suggests they are 30–40 percent cheaper than a doctor’s visit, and 80 percent cheaper than an emergency room visit.

Criticisms

With all the above perks, there are some criticisms about retail-based health care clinics, one of which being their inability to provide holistic care to a patient. Loretta Gallagher explains that without a patient’s details, scattered care from different providers can lead to mix-ups, and if people do not bring their complete medication lists to a clinic, they may be prescribed something that reacts poorly with the medications they are already taking. Another downside is that retail-based health care is not improving access to care for the medically underserved, as they are most likely to be in relatively affluent sections of large urbans areas.

A lot remains to be seen when it comes to this innovative model of health care delivery. As more clinics open and a greater pool of data is collected, we will be able to have a more holistic view of their role in our health care system.