Note: This article by consumer advocate Clark Howard - is from June 2012. With the election now over and the subject of health care still an important one for all of us going forward I thought I would post this article for information and discussion purposes - not to stir up political debate.
I've used these small clinics in the past when I just need a quick tetnus shot or some antibiotics. They are what all communities need vs. hospital ER's for quick fixes.
Pharmacy chains to roll out more nurse-in-a-box clinics | www.clarkhoward.com
Regardless of what the Supreme Court rules on President Obama's health care law, your access to health care is getting easier in America today.
There is nothing in the president's Affordable Care Act -- or anything that the GOP has proposed as an alternative to what they derisively call "Obamacare" -- that addresses the core economic issues fundamental to getting health care costs under control.
So, thankfully, the free market has ridden to the rescue of the American health consumer!
I've talked in the past about "nurse-in-a-box clinics" at retail storefronts that offer care 7 days a week from nurse practitioners.
Now some of the big pharmacy chains are looking to expand the number of nurse-in-a-box clinics they have on the ground. CVS is expanding from 600 clinics to 1,000 across the country. Walgreens plan to expand too.
A few years ago, everybody wanted in to this market space, but nobody knew the business model. So you had Wal-Mart boasting they'd have 2,000 clinics, but they fell flat on their face and haven't figured out the business model yet. Ditto for Kroger too.
But the clinics are a natural outgrowth for the big pharmacy chains. So many people who don't have a primary doctor come to their pharmacists looking for advice, essentially putting them in the difficult spot of being asked to practice medicine.
The nurse-in-a-boxes are a key solution to that problem, because in medical school, nobody wants to be a general practitioner, or a family practitioner, or a pediatrician. (All the income potential is in the specialties.) We need an alternate way to provide that care. And nurse practitioners are the unsung heroes of making it affordable in America.