It’s a common scenario: It’s after-hours or a weekend and you need to see your doctor. But the office is closed. Or it’s flu season and you can’t get an appointment to see your doctor for two weeks. Maybe you’re out of town and don’t have access to your regular physician. Or you don’t have your own physician.
It’s not exactly an emergency your throat is scratchy and sore but you don’t want to wait to see your doctor. More people are turning to walk-in clinics to treat acute yet minor conditions and basic complaints like sore throats, conjunctivitis, upper respiratory infections and more. Of these visits, more than 44 percent take place when physician offices are closed.
These “safety-net providers” are able to relieve the stress on emergency rooms and offer many people immediate and adequate care without an appointment and with short wait times. They’re different from urgent care centers in that they are located within stores, like CVS, Target, Walmart, Walgreens and grocery chains, and they are almost exclusively staffed by physician assistants or nurse practitioners.
Retail clinics are convenient and affordable, with visits generally costing between $45 and $75, and most take health insurance. Prices are usually posted, so you know ahead of time what you’ll be spending. Many also provide services like immunizations and school or camp physicals. And with pharmacists on staff, they can provide quick access to prescribed medications as well as knowledgeable advice on proper usage of both prescribed and over-the-counter drugs.
Many retail clinics are also useful in connecting people to other sources of health: foods, products and services. For instance, someone with diabetes or hypertension, who needs to be on a restricted diet and adhere to a healthy lifestyle, can have easy access to groceries, medical supplies and other equipment like pedometers and light exercise equipment.
From the time they appeared on the scene in early 2000, visits to these clinics have grown tremendously. By 2012, they recorded about 10.5 million patient visits. The number of clinics also has expanded rapidly: since 2006, their numbers have increased almost 900 percent, from 200 to 1,800...
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