Illustration by Jen Oaks
Flu-light special
Issue #34
Retail clinics are sweeping the nation
By Amy Westervelt
Published: December 1st, 2007 | 1:48pm
If you’ve been to CVS or Kmart recently, you may have noticed more than the usual number of sneezing kids near the checkout stand.
Small medical service centers called “retail clinics” have sprung up around the U.S. in the past three years and have started to appear in more and more retail chain stores. Focused on convenient, low-cost healthcare for basic health issues such as the flu, the clinics have become increasingly popular especially for those who have neither insurance nor a doctor that they regularly visit.
While most agree that the clinics do serve a purpose — say you’ve got strep throat and need antibiotics, but it’s 7 p.m. and you don’t want to be slapped with emergency-room charges, for example — doctors caution against relying on them in lieu of a primary physician. The clinics are generally staffed by registered nurses and nurse practitioners and are not set up to deal with follow-up visits.
CVS’ Minute Clinic was one of the first, and the company worked closely with the Academy of Family Physicians to develop a template that it is now rolling out to several of its stores. The Minute Clinics have a list of a dozen or so illnesses and injuries that they deal with, they connect people with local physicians for follow-ups, and they keep the clinic isolated from the rest of the store to stop germs from spreading. In addition to the clinics set up in retail chains, there are a number of small, independent clinics cropping up in shopping centers. Though some might be more apt to trust an independent clinic than a chain, Doctor Larry S. Fields, board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians, recommends sticking with the chains since they have generally done their homework and worked closely with the conventional medical community to develop their clinics.
Check Your Head
- Retail clinics offer treatment price menus
- Cold or flu: $59
- Bladder infection: $65
- Strep throat: $65
- Ear infection: $65
- Flu shot: $30
Note: Prices listed are averages across most retail clinic types, check individual sites for specific price lists at clinics in your area.
Find a Clinic
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