I'm certainly not trying to dispariage the old school family physician or midlevel providers, but these are nothing new. People will quickly realize they get what they pay for. "Urgent care" and "Fast ER" services are popular down here. They're generally ER or family docs and midlevel providers working in private practice...
http://www.daytondoc.com/
http://www.miamiurgentcare.com/walkinclinicmiami.html
http://www.doctorsafterhours.com/
http://www.flaurgentcare.com/
http://www.imedurgentcare.com/
The WalMart thing is just an attempt to make these walk-in clinics corporate so that they can get their piece of the pie. If a patient thinks that a non-scheduled $50 cash office visit at the same place they buy tube socks and dog food can cure every ailment, then is that the kind of patient you even want to deal with in the first place? Convenience is valued by everyone, but the same people who use the WalMart clinic are probably going to shop for the bargain basement podiatry care also.
In the end, the medical care providers in these clinics provide a valuable service, but they have the job of knowing a little bit about many common conditions. It's not as if they will start doing surgery or advanced diagnostics in Walgreens to make specialists disappear; people who want (or need) the best will still be referred. A smart pod could probably use these clinics as a marketing/referral tool since they will see a lot of patient volume. As was mentioned, some of those patients will present with foot complaints beyond the "walk-in" clinic's ability/resources.
