Target’s In-Store Clinics Offer Quick Health Care
The Baltimore Sun on Sunday examined "the latest extension of the nexus of medicine and retailing" -- an influx of emergency health clinics in large retail stores. Target, the nation's second-largest retailer, recently opened six emergency health clinics in stores in Minnesota. The clinics are "about the size of a typical bedroom" and are staffed by one nurse practitioner, the Sun reports. The nurse practitioner treats about 12 common health problems, such as throat and sinus infections and poison ivy, and provides some screening exams and immunizations. The nurse practitioner also may refer a patient to a doctor or an emergency care center. Typical visits last about 15 minutes, cost $40 to $45 and are subsidized by many insurers, such as Aetna and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. MinuteClinics, the four-year-old company that operates the Target health clinics, has treated 150,000 patients to date and this year expects revenue of about $4 million.
The company plans to open eight clinics in Target stores in the Baltimore region within the next two months and aims to open more than 200 locations in 20 cities by 2008. MinuteClinics also is considering opening health clinics in some supermarkets. According to the Sun, the clinics "represent another step in a long and sometimes winding path toward providing more convenient and less expensive settings for health care." Surveys of MinuteClinic patients found that 95% of patients diagnosed at Target clinics get their prescriptions filled at the same store. In addition, about 50% of MinuteClinic shoppers shop in the store after visiting the clinic. The clinics are intended to be used in addition to family doctors, not as a replacement, according to MinuteClinic CEO Linda Hall Whitman (Salganik, Baltimore Sun, 8/8).