Physicians to Staff Rite Aid’s New Concept in Walk-in Clinics

Does your neighborhood grocery store, drug store, or department store have a walk-in healthcare clinic yet? They've been cropping up across the nation in large drug store chains like Rite Aid, Longs, Walgreens, and CVS; also in retail stores that have in-house pharmacies like Target and Wal-Mart. In one Wisconsin town, even the local Piggly Wiggly has jumped on the band-wagon.

In-store health clinics have grown from 250 at the beginning of 2007, to the more than 800, now operated by more than 20 companies, in 30 states. These clinics offer routine, non-emergency medical treatment of common ailments like seasonal allergies, sore throats, and earaches. Treatment of minor injuries, vaccinations and wellness screenings are also included on their "menu" of services.

The services are usually performed by a nurse practitioner who is a registered nurse with advanced education, most often a master's degree, or a physician's assistant; both with physician oversight. No appointment is needed as patients are seen on a walk-in basis, usually within 20 minutes of arrival. The hours of operation generally correspond to the store's business hours, so often run into the early evening, seven days a week.

Although business models for these clinics are still in the infancy stage, retailers see them as an opportunity to increase sales of their pharmacy and over-the-counter healthcare items, and this has lured larger retailers to the table.

For the consumer, the convenience of being able to pick up the baby's diapers, a new toothbrush, laundry soap, a greeting card for auntie's birthday, and to get a flu shot at the same time can be appealing.

Payment for services can be made in cash or by credit card. Clinics are actively pursuing contracts with health insurance companies, and consequently insurance is now accepted at some locations. The services cost less than going to an urgent care or the emergency room, and are usually closer to home.

Who is using these walk-in clinics the most? To date, almost 50% of business is coming from patients who have no primary care physician of their own. Clinics now keep lists of local area doctors who are accepting new patients, and can get clients an appointment. Where follow-up care is warranted, referral relationships with local doctors, urgent care facilities, emergency rooms, and local hospitals are being developed.

Rite Aid is taking the concept of the walk-in, retail healthcare clinic a step further by announcing plans to open four new clinics staffed by physicians who also have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Two of these MedStar PromptCare clinics will be opened this summer in Baltimore, and two in Washington, D.C. They are a result of an agreement between MedStar, a company that operates eight hospitals in the Washington-Baltimore area, Consumer Health Services, a physician staffing agency, and Rite Aid, which is the nation's third-largest drugstore chain. The day-to-day operations will be run by Consumer Health Services (CHS), and MedStar will oversee the medical direction of the clinics.

The unique thing about the new MedStar PromptCare clinics is that they are being staffed by physicians, rather than nurse practitioners or physician assistants. The clinics will be able to provide acute care services, as an alternative to the emergency room, and at lower prices to the patient. They will not, however, treat life-threatening situations involving things like major bleeding or heart attacks. The physicians will all be credentialed and have admitting privileges at MedStar Health's hospitals. Patients will be able to pay by cash or credit card, or simply by paying their insurance co-pay for most major health insurance plans.

The group hopes to be able to add twelve more similar clinics nationwide if this pilot program is successful.