Coming soon to a store near you: health clinics.
Seeking to capitalize on the country's costly and often slow healthcare delivery system, a number of start-ups are building storefront clinics that offer quick and cheap medical services inside chain pharmacies and large retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp.
There are currently more than 150 such clinics nationwide. None are in Southern California, but thousands of new clinics are planned nationwide in the next year or two, according to a report to be released today by the California Healthcare Foundation, an independent Oakland-based research institute that advocates for affordable healthcare. Los Angeles could have its first retail clinic this year.
Retail clinics are small, typically no bigger than a sandwich shop. They are open seven days a week and treat minor, non- urgent illnesses including strep throat and ear infections. Appointments are not necessary and most visits last 15 minutes for treatments that cost $40 to $70, which are clearly posted on menu-style boards on the wall.
"Imagine if Starbucks was running your doctor's office," said Dave Mandelkern, chief executive of Burlingame, Calif.-based QuickHealth Inc., which has three clinics in Northern California and plans to open seven more before year's end, including one in Los Angeles.
Doctors and some consumers have raised concerns that these clinics may jeopardize the quality of care in the name of convenience and cost cutting. Most facilities are staffed by nurse practitioners, not physicians.
But proponents say retail clinics could be the answer for millions of patients, including the uninsured and underinsured who often can't afford medical care even when their illnesses are easily treatable. For the insured, the clinics are mainly a convenience, a better option than waiting for a doctor's appointment or waiting hours at an emergency room over a minor ailment.
For the industry, the trend -- still relatively new, with the first clinics opening in 2000 -- points to further segmentation of the country's healthcare delivery system.
Traditionally, doctors' offices and hospitals provided the bulk of medical services, including treating simple rashes and performing heart bypass surgeries. But over the years, an array of specialized facilities, from ambulatory surgery centers to urgent care clinics, have divided healthcare into niche markets. Retail clinics represent one of the latest.
