Consumers Flock to Retail Health Care Clinics

The trend of consumers getting their medical care where they buy their aspirin continues to increase. And it may provide a commercial solution that helps hospitals address their growing medical debt.

The Kroger Co. has joined a growing list of retailers adding walk-in medical clinics in its stores. The Cincinnati-based grocery chain recently teamed with The Little Clinic of Nashville, Tenn., to provide the service at 26 walk-in clinics in Kroger stores in seven states.

Rather than fear the budget health clinics, some industry observers suggest health care providers embrace retail clinic operators as a partner that can provide treatment of the uninsured. That would curb the skyrocketing health care costs and medical bad debt that hospitals face.

According to a recent study, “Retail Clinics: A Promising Sign for a Healthy Future,” by Market Strategies International, there was a 33 percent increase in retail clinic use in 2008, compared to 2007. A lot of that growth stems from insurance companies’ willingness to pay for the visits, said Jack Fyock, vice president of health care research and consulting for Market Strategies.

“Satisfaction is really high,” said Fyock, who oversaw the online study of 1,800 people in 12 large U.S. cities where retail clinics have a presence. “The trend overall is that even among non-users, the idea of retail clinics is more favorable.”

Fyock said that the study didn’t examine if hospitals are referring to retail clinics their uninsured patients in need of affordable health care. Nonetheless, the study indicates that retail clinics’ extended hours and practice of posting the price for medical services are attracting a high number of uninsured and underinsured patients.

In 2007, 54 percent of retail clinic visitors said they paid for the visit themselves, Fyock said. While only 41 percent of visitors in 2008 said they paid for their visit to the retail clinic, the percentage drop reflects the growing trend of insurers paying for visits, Fyock said.

Self-payers typically didn’t have a doctor or insurance, and they tended to visit the retail clinic because it is a convenient alternative to an emergency room. But the perception is that the service is less expensive than a trip to a regular physician and that the clinics offer health care without an appointment and outside of traditional office hours, Fyock said.

“That message that it is less expensive than a trip to a regular physician is more impactful for someone without insurance than someone with insurance,” he said. “They don’t have a doctor. They don’t have insurance. … I think the retail clinic void that may work is for the uninsured. You see the price, you don’t have to have a doctor and you can go to a convenient location during non- business hours for your care.”