Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Retail health clinics drive innovation
["The New Force in Walk-in Clinics," Daily Policy Digest, The National Center for Policy Analysis, 26 July 2006.]
The Wall Street Journal reports that the growth in retail clinics by providers outside the traditional health care market is finally getting the attention of the health care industry, and forcing the industry to compete:
Staffed mainly by nurse practitioners who are licensed to treat a wide range of minor illnesses and prescribe medications, retail clinics have grown rapidly over the past five years as retailers, including CVS, Kroger, Wal-Mart Stores and Walgreen, have signed up with more than a half-dozen clinic operators.
Now, traditional medical providers are stepping up to the counter, driven by the threat of new competition, the opportunity to recruit new patients -- and real concerns about the quality of care.
- In southeastern New Jersey, for example, AtlantiCare, the region's largest health care system, will open its first in-store HealthRite clinic next month in a Somers Point, N.J., ShopRite supermarket; it's the first of seven initially planned, and the company may also franchise stores to other health systems.
- Geisinger Health System, of Danville, Pa., with hospitals, physician practices and other health services, is opening its first CareWorks Convenient Healthcare clinic in the Weis Markets grocery chain next month, and will open as many as 75 sites throughout the region in the next five years.
- Memorial Baptist Health system in South Bend, Ind., is operating Medpoint express centers in local Wal-Mart Super Centers.
[Devon Herrick, "The Changing Face of Health Care," The Salina Journal, 3 July 2006.]
The Wall Street Journal reports that the growth in retail clinics by providers outside the traditional health care market is finally getting the attention of the health care industry, and forcing the industry to compete:
Staffed mainly by nurse practitioners who are licensed to treat a wide range of minor illnesses and prescribe medications, retail clinics have grown rapidly over the past five years as retailers, including CVS, Kroger, Wal-Mart Stores and Walgreen, have signed up with more than a half-dozen clinic operators.
Now, traditional medical providers are stepping up to the counter, driven by the threat of new competition, the opportunity to recruit new patients -- and real concerns about the quality of care.
- In southeastern New Jersey, for example, AtlantiCare, the region's largest health care system, will open its first in-store HealthRite clinic next month in a Somers Point, N.J., ShopRite supermarket; it's the first of seven initially planned, and the company may also franchise stores to other health systems.
- Geisinger Health System, of Danville, Pa., with hospitals, physician practices and other health services, is opening its first CareWorks Convenient Healthcare clinic in the Weis Markets grocery chain next month, and will open as many as 75 sites throughout the region in the next five years.
- Memorial Baptist Health system in South Bend, Ind., is operating Medpoint express centers in local Wal-Mart Super Centers.
[Devon Herrick, "The Changing Face of Health Care," The Salina Journal, 3 July 2006.]
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