Is the retail clinic boom over?

Here's some good news for family physicians: Only 1.2 percent of U.S. families reported visiting a retail clinic at some time in the past 12 months and only 2.3 percent of families reported ever having visited one, according to a survey conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The survey was conducted between April 2007 and January 2008 and was sent to approximately 18,000 people in 9,400 families. The response rate was 43 percent.

The survey notes that the boom of retail clinics, which FPM covered, appears to be slowing or over. At the end 2005, only 60 clinics existed in 18 states. One year later, 800 clinics could be found in 23 states. In December 2007 the growth had slowed, and only100 more clinics were established that year in 30 states. As of May 2008, 70 clinics in 15 states have closed and MinuteClinic, the largest retail clinic chain, announced it would be reducing its expansion plans.

Why the change in momentum? "Retail clinics have turned out to be more complex and costly to operate than expected, and some doctors in traditional physician practices are responding [to the competition] by extending their own office hours and doing more same-day scheduling," according to a post on The Wall Street Journal 's health blog.

So, it's possible that the popularity of big-box medicine has reached its height, and the competition didn't hurt family practices after all. But are you prepared for what comes next?

Posted at 04:47PM Dec 23, 2008 by Lynn Hofeldt  |  Comments[2]