McClatchy (5/8, Pugh) reports that a growing number of “walk-in health clinics, with late-night and weekend hours, on-site prescription drugs and cheaper prices, are proving a hit with busy patients who’ve grown tired of getting medical treatment when it’s most convenient for doctors.”
Walk-in clinics include the more than 1,900 retail health clinics and 6,400 urgent care centers nationwide. McClatchy adds that with “a national shortage of doctors, higher rates of chronic illness and more people with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, it’s no surprise that walk-in clinics are booming.”:
Blogfinger report from May, 2014: Blogfinger report on urgent care centers
Blogfinger Medical Commentary by Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC
During my earlier reporting on the Affordable Care Act, I pointed out that there will be a shortage of primary care doctors as well as other healthcare providers such as nurses. Now that many people have health insurance that didn’t have it before, doctors’ offices as well as other providers such as ER’s are having trouble stemming the tide.
Patients are finding that quality is sometimes being compromised because of these shortages.. In addition, many patients still don’t have a doctor. They are called “the medically homeless.”
If you try to reach your doctor, you often find that barriers have been erected to discourage your contact with the physician. Poorly trained individuals often screen your calls into the office, and you may not even get a call back. If you are sick, you may be told that there are no openings—period! Sometimes you are greeted with a recording that tells you to go to an ER if you are having a genuine medical emergency. Many physicians are becoming salaried employees of big hospital corporations, and that causes a myriad of changes and issues regarding availabity and quality.
Patients crave the way that they used to be the top priority at the doctor’s office whereas now, efficiency, cost cutting, and electronic records are at the top of the priority list. Patients want “patient first consumerism.”
At first I was unsure how things would evolve regarding shortages, but now it is obvious that a flood of urgent care centers and “retail clinics” are moving into the vacuum, and patents are happy with the results. I’ve become frustrated myself with access and quality issues in physician offices, and I don’t hesitate to go to an urgent care center.
But urgent care centers are not well suited to following patients with chronic conditions or serious medical matters. For that you need a regular doctor who is the “quarterback” of your care. But the urgent care centers are great for so many health issues that are common and not life threatening. Also, I would suggest that patients be sure that an actual physician will see them when they seek help at such a facility.
What remains to be seen in the future is how these facilities rate when quality parameters are assessed. Initial reports are hopeful.
Carol Rizzo of OG, an expert on healthcare, often helps us out with our discussions on new health care models, and she provides us with the link below where the CEO of Kaiser Permanente lists 5 concepts regarding the future of US healthcare. I suggest you all read it.