Retail Clinic Use Continues To Grow

A recent study by the Rand Corp. has found that retail-based health clinics are providing more preventive care and being used more frequently by older patients. 

The visits to retail medical clinics rose four-fold between 2007 and 2009, from 1.48 million to approximately 5.97 million visits. Between 2000 and 2006, only about 7.5 percent of patients visiting the clinics were 65 or older. From 2007 to 2009, that number rose to 14.7 percent. 

Prevention, specifically providing flu vaccines, increased from 21% of care provided to almost 48% of care over the same two time periods. The number of vaccines given reached more than 1.9 million in 2009.

Other findings of note include that the number of visits for acute medical problems dropped from 78 to 51 percent in 2009. Also, more than 60 percent of patients visiting the clinics said they did not have a regular primary care provider.

The study, published online in the journal Health Affairs, also found that almost half of  all clinic visits fell on the weekend or when physician offices are closed. 

“The rapid growth of retail clinics makes it clear that they are meeting a patient need,” said the study’s authors. “Convenience and after-hours accessibility are possible drivers of this growth.”