Retail Clinics: Some Shakeout, Wal-Mart Moving In
The current wave of retail, urgent care clinics continues, and overall the future is still bright. There has been, and will be, some shake-out. One of the first companies in this wave, CheckUps, operated 23 clinics in Wal-Mart stores in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. CheckUps ceased operations last week, apparently running out of cash.
On the other hand, Wal-Mart has announced that it plans to open 400 store based clinics between now and 2010. Wal-Marts first co-branded in-store clinics with local hospitals will open under The Clinic at Wal-Mart brand in Atlanta, Little Rock and Dallas, with the first clinic expected to open in April 2008. Wal-Mart has signed a letter of intent to partner directly with St. Vincent Health System, a part of the Catholic Healthcare Initiatives system, to open four co-branded clinics in Little Rock, and also has signed a letter of intent to work with RediClinic, LLC (a division of Steve Cases Revolution Health) and local hospital systems to open co-branded walk-in clinics in 200 Wal-Mart Supercenters, starting with stores in Atlanta and Dallas. See Wal-Marts Fact Sheet for more details of their plans.
I firmly believe that these retail clinics are here to stay because they address several consumers pain points: (1) convenience, in terms of hours and location, (2) predictable pricing/cost and (3) simplicity and narrow focus. The important takeaways from these developments offer potential opportunities for private practice physicians. First, the operating companies and their retail chain hosts want to work with local healthcare provides for the goodwill of the local brand. Secondly, the clinics need medical backup, something which local providers need to provide. Your hospital may be the preferred affiliate, but they need physicians to refer to enter you. Third, you can enter into your own relationship with the clinics and use them as an after-hours option. In this kind of arrangement, you want the clinic staff to be calling you if they need to speak with you, and to insure that you get the follow-up appointment and a report. By being responsive to the clinics needs and by being respectful, you are also more likely to be called with referrals for patients without a physician (primary or specialty).
There have been several models of urgent care clinics around for some 30 years, but the retail clinics appear to be taking hold as a low overhead, low cost, limited service solution for real patient needs. You cant stop it, but you can help your patients and work with them to grow your own practice.