"In-store" Clinics Set to Open

[flyingbridge]

Read it here.

Can a retail store deliver healthcare? Wal-Mart, the largest US retailer, thinks so, together with CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid, the leading US drug store chains. But as all four move ahead with plans to expand “walk-in clinics” in their stores, the doctors of Illinois are fighting back.

The state could be the first to impose stricter regulation on the new generation of walk-in clinics, where nurse-practitioners can examine patients, conduct basic procedures such as inoculation, and prescribe for minor illnesses, while charging less than a doctor’s practice.

Massachusetts is also considering whether and how to license the state’s first retail clinics, proposed by drugstore group CVS and its MinuteClinics unit. And the industry expects more challenges ahead.
Walk-in clinics represent one of the most advanced and aggressive attempts by US business and entrepreneurs to drive reform of the healthcare system.

One day perhaps cub MDs will be expected to pay their dues not in an ED but instead, in a Wal-Mart. Good God!

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[Nikko]

I was discussing this subject with the evening pharmacist I worked with. He is finishing up his CEs for immunization.

CVS and other retail giants expect these clinics to modulate the healthcare industry by extracting costs from physcians. Its simple. From a retail setting it makes business sense to attempt to gain the power to open these clinics.

The issues surrounding these clinics are centered malpractice laws. Without proper legislation surrounding the regulation of these clinics it will be hard to make a reality. What doctor is going to issue a standing order for patients coming into these clinics, and turn around be at least partly responsible for the immunization/ADRs/med errors that can possibly result.

My opinion on the subject is a mute. MTM is a wise step that will help aid in the reduction of costs to the americans absorbing the costs of such therapy, however without regulation...these clinics are a setup for surefire disaster. How commercialized can healthcare become? Half of america looks at the drive-thru windows in pharmacies and are more concerned with how fast you can fill my perscription, rather than how safely you can dispense my medication.

 

[Miami_med]

A previous article on this topic said that they were leasing space. These are essentially private urgent care centers leasing space in Walmart. It's just convenient urgent care.

 

[ForbiddenComma]

A previous article on this topic said that they were leasing space. These are essentially private urgent care centers leasing space in Walmart. It's just convenient urgent care.

Actually, all of the big stores doing this either bought their respective urgent care chains, or are in the process of doing so.

I say, let them at it, more power to them... as long as the company and its NP get to enjoy the full benefits of malpractice liability, and don't get to throw an MD "supervisor" under the bus when the lawyers come calling after yet another missed diagnosis.