Sick? Wait A Minute

With the country facing economic troubles and more people losing their jobs, hospitals are feeling the effects. Growing numbers of unemployed and uninsured are looking to emergency rooms for care. Even before the recession became evident, many ERs were already overcrowded with long waits. So it's no surprise that retail health clinics are popping up all across the country. A couple weeks ago, I knew I had a sinus infection and/or an ear infection, simply because I've had them before and know just how lousy I felt. It was a Friday evening around 7:00 p.m. and I'd been too busy to call my family doctor to try to get in to see him. So, I decided to give Minute Clinic at CVS a try. After all, it's close to my home, and if I needed a prescription, I could get it filled right there. The Doctor Is In...Near The Makeup Aisle Working many years with hospitals and doctors, I know there is some skepticism about the quality of care you'll get at one of these clinics...healthcare near the cosmetic aisle. But, it was also a good "secret shopping" opportunity, so I decided to check it out. When I arrived at CVS, I entered my information into a wall mounted computer, then waited only about 10 minutes to be seen. While I waited, I saw a complete listing of the costs associated with each diagnosis. A female nurse practitioner politely called me in to a small private clinic room, clean, fully stocked with supplies including a computer on which she created an electronic medical record. After numerous questions and a quick check of vital signs, and my eyes, ears, nose and throat, she affirmed my self-diagnosis. Within minutes, I'd gotten my prescriptions and she submitted the needed paperwork for the insurance - $59 for the visit and no out-of-pocket costs while there. The nurse told me she worked on an oncology unit in a hospital during the day, but liked the opportunity to interact with people who aren't as sick as cancer patients are in the evening. Overall it was a pleasant, quick and easy experience. Explosive Growth in the Category It's no wonder there are so many of these places. According to the research firm Merchant Medicine, there were 1,135 of these clinics as of December 1. CVS's Minute Clinic is the leader in the category with just over 500 locations, but Walgreen's Take Care is the fastest growing with more than 250 locations, up from fewer than 100 earlier this year. In the December 10 Media Economy newsletter, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott said the retailing giant would open 400 clinics within three years, and as many as 2,000 within seven years. A recent article by David Ellis in H&HN Online shows a number of reasons for growth in the category. These clinics target dual-income families that don't have a lot of time to spend in a doctor' s office, but in some markets like Phoenix, mini clinics are actively targeting minorities and the uninsured. Not a bad idea because they care a convenient point of access to care for those who are often most at risk. A Society Driven By Convenience "We're a society driven by convenience, and health care, until this concept, has not been convenient, particularly for dual-income parents," says Tom Charland, CEO of Merchant Medicine. "When someone in their family gets sick, because their schedules are so tightly woven, it creates chaos." I agree with Charland. As a married working parent of two, our doctors' office hours aren't always convenient, and an illness may not warrant the cost or wait of an emergency room visit. The challenges are several, however - getting people to understand what a minor health issue is versus when they have a true medical emergency that warrants a hospital visit, and creating access to a primary care physician or medical home, especially for the unensured. These are just a few of the issues we face as healthcare communicators.