From a recent Wall Street Journal story (10/05/2005) comes a story (I can't seem to find the link: sorry) about competition for those doctor's visits we all love to wait for:
In a development that has broad implications for the nation's primary-care system, a rising number of major pharmacy and retail chains -- including CVS Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. -- are opening in-store health clinics. They offer patients fast access to routine medical services such as strep-throat tests, sports physicals and flu shots. The clinics, which typically charge between $25 and $60 per visit, don't require an appointment and are open during pharmacy hours including evenings and weekends. To keep costs down, they are staffed by nurse practitioners, who can legally treat patients and write prescriptions in most states.
Who are they servicing?
The new clinics are aimed at everyone from harried parents dropping by with sick kids on the weekend, to busy professionals ducking in for a prescription during work hours. While the retailers don't profit directly from the new services, the hope is that the clinics will boost business if patients fill their prescription at the store pharmacy, or pick up other items on their way out. (Target's MinuteClinics even offer patients a clip-on beeper after they sign in, to encourage patients to shop until the nurse practitioner is ready to see them.)
... But some patients are more concerned about convenience. When Terri Whitesel, 56 years old, who runs a marketing consultancy in Minneapolis, had an allergic reaction to a bug bite last month, she dashed into a MinuteClinic at a Target in between meetings at work. "I didn't want to go to the doctor and sit around waiting with a bunch of people who are really sick," says Ms. Whitesel.
The nurse practitioner was busy with another patient, but Ms. Whitesel wrote down her name, got a beeper at the check-in counter, and shopped for birthday cards until the nurse beeped her five minutes later. The entire visit took less than 15 minutes and she wound up with a prescription for an anti-inflammatory drug.
Not only did it take 15", but she also did other things that she would have done anyways while she was waiting. But there's always critics:
The trend is drawing criticism from some doctors groups, who could lose business if patients turn to the clinics for basic care. Doctors also contend that patients could wind up with lower-quality care because the clinics don't have physicians on-site.
"Serious illnesses sometimes present with simple symptoms," says Edward Hill, president of the American Medical Association. "A cough might be something as simple as a cold, or something as serious as congestive heart failure. The ability to ferret out the 20% of serious illnesses that present with simple symptoms is what we went to medical school for."
Then again, we probably won't end up with lower quality care because a given person probably doesn't have a serious illness and because nurse practitioners and other health care providers are also trained about such symptoms.
My better 3/4ths and I take our kids to a nurse practitioner. I've not been dissatisfied with the care she gives. But having a wider array of choices in some basic medical care is a good thing for consumers, even if some special interests may not like it.