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Drugstore Clinics Widespread, Despite Criticisms: Texas May See More Walk-in Options
By Pat
Basic healthcare may have just gotten easier, albeit controversially. The number of walk-in clinics at drugstores like Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart, and Duane Reade has been increasing over the last two years, and very little is slowing down plans to add hundreds more across the country. Recent studies cite shorter waiting periods, lower costs, and instant prescription fills for the clinics, in contrast to more expensive and time-consuming trips to doctors' offices. The majority of these clinics also accept most plans, leaving little incentive for on-the-go Americans to wait days or weeks for non-specialized appointments in conventional offices.

The rise in healthcare costs, the decrease in the number able to afford private health insurance, and the inadequate number of primary care physicians across the country have all been building up to this -- perhaps inevitable -- solution. One can now walk in to any number of seven hundred clinics located in several nationwide drug and discount store chains and be seen, on average, in under twenty-five minutes. While the clinics are not recommended for anything but basic care -- such as treating a cold, flu, or mild infection -- that's just fine for many, especially those going back to school, who are often bombarded by common, acute illnesses in those first, returning months.

Texas, a state in which twenty-five percent of the populace is without health insurance, may particularly stand to benefit from increased healthcare options. A visit to a MinuteClinic, a wholly owned subsidiary of CVS Caremark, costs an average of eighteen dollars less than other primary-care clinics, according to HealthPartners, a Minnesota health maintenance organization. Emergency rooms across Dallas, Houston, Austin, and the rest of the state are overloaded with the uninsured seeking basic, non-emergency care simply because they have nowhere else to go. Offering easier, cheaper access to basic diagnostic care and treatments may alleviate some of the burden on both individuals and local facilities overwhelmed by too many people and not enough funding.

Twenty percent of people in the United States have no or inadequate access to a primary care physician, with few indications that statistic will improve in the near future. In 2004, seventy-five percent of the counties in Texas lacked sufficient numbers of primary care physicians to meet local needs, and twenty-four counties had none at all. Drugstore clinics often employ more cost-effective nurse practitioners and physician assistants -- healthcare workers with the ability to diagnose and treat everyday conditions, but who are under the supervision of a licensed medical doctor. These workers are growing more and more popular within the industry, partially as a result of the shortage of family practitioners.

But doctors' groups are protesting, and some with good cause. Many of these groups stand to lose substantial business, and are arguing that such facilities may be unable to provide the proper standards of care, including hygiene and safety. "We've got big problems in healthcare, and this is not the answer," said Rick Kellerman, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Many state officials agree, at least to a certain extent. The walk-in clinics are currently being monitored   [Article continued below...]

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