Dive Brief:
- More than one in three walk-in retail clinics are in strip malls or shopping centers.
- These clinics, which can cost hundreds less than an emergency room visit, have grown 20% since 2009, with the number reaching 9,400 as of 2013. They include regional chains such as City Practice Group of New York and national ones like Concentra.
- Hospitals are also reportedly taking advantage of the availability of clinic space to lessen the strain on emergency departments. One example is Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which has clinics planned for retail centers throughout the Nashville.
Dive Insight:
It's amusing to think that the spaces once occupied by the likes of Blockbuster video will now be taking in sick patients. And it's also interesting that these urgent-care clinics are more welcome than some fly-by-night boutiques, as mall operators say they typically pay higher rents and have better credit. But physicians have valid concerns that the flourishing of clinics goes against the notion of preventive care. It is in the best interest of these clinic managers to try to incorporate some aspect of preventive health care into their operation models. This will improve patient satisfaction rates and truly help these clinics to compete in the primary-care marketplace.
