Number Of Retail Clinics Continues To Increase, Analysts Say

The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday examined how retail medical clinics "are springing up in drug, grocery and big-box stores around the country" as "a growing number of entrepreneurs see them as a way to make money while making the simplest medical care ... cheaper and more convenient." According to Mary Kate Scott -- a Los Angeles health care consultant who wrote a recent report on the trend for the California HealthCare Foundation -- the number of retail medical clinics in the U.S. has increased from 60 in January 2006 to 300 today. Scott said she expects the number of clinics to double by the end of 2007 and to reach 2,500 to 3,000 within five years. She called the clinics a "true innovation in health care delivery," adding, "What I think is really important ... is that they are making everyone in the health care system say: 'Hang on. Is there a new and better way to do it?'" Hal Rosenbluth, cofounder of Take Care Health Systems -- a clinic company based in Pennsylvania -- said, "We built a model for immediate gratification, which is what somebody wants when they're ill, or their child is ill." The Inquirer notes that some physicians' groups are critical of retail clinics, saying that they should have strict limits and physician oversight (Burling, Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/12).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

We Recommend:


•   Purchase Anti Flu Face Mask Online
•   Order Anti-Bacterial Face Mask No Prescription
•   Buy Atripla Without Prescription