The Value of Retail Clinics

Time, money are factors in decision to use retail clinics
A survey found that people would rather see their primary care provider but if that is not possible they are likely to use a retail-based clinic. People were willing to see a nurse practitioner at a retail clinic if they could save at least $31.42 and would wait a day or more to do so if they could save at least $82.12. Los Angeles Times/Booster Shots blog (3/8)

New York health system says retail clinics are a success

Continuum Health Partners said its two-year agreement to staff walk-in clinics at Duane Reade pharmacies in New York City with its own physicians has been more successful than expected. The health system, which plans to add 20 more locations in the next year or so, sees “downstream revenue” when patients seek follow-up care with its physicians and hospitals. Crain’s New York Business

Health Clinics Have a Positive Impact

A new Commonwealth Fund report finds that a post–Hurricane Katrina primary care pilot program in New Orleans could serve as a national model for providing health services to vulnerable populations.

Based on findings from a survey of patients at 27 New Orleans health clinics, Coming Out of Crisis: Patient Experiences in Primary Care in New Orleans, Four Years Post-Katrina shows that, despite being disproportionately low-income and uninsured, clinic patients had fewer problems affording care and fewer instances of medical debt and inefficient care than most U.S. adults. In fact, only 27 percent of those surveyed went without needed health care because of the cost, compared with 41 percent of adults across the country.

Harvard saves millions with Family Van clinic

Editor’s note: The Emergency Room is the single most expensive resource in the health system. In order to reallocate resources and provide affordable access to people, more creative delivery modalities will be required.

Harvard Medical School‘s Family Van clinic saved about $20 million for the health care system last year, researchers said. The curbside clinic reaches out to patients who don’t have regular health care and often use a hospital emergency department for primary care. The study said the van returns $36 for every $1 invested in the program. The Boston Globe