The value of retail clinics

With the expansion of coverage to millions of more Americans in the years since the Affordable Care Act was fully implemented, access to care is becoming more strained than ever before, seemingly creating more interest among payers, insurers, health systems and patients in the use of retail clinics.

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“Retail clinics are increasingly expanding their service offerings to include behavioral health screenings, more comprehensive primary care and chronic care management,” noted the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s April 2015 report, “Building a culture of health: The value proposition of retail clinics.” The RWJF study sought to “examine the potential value proposition in building a ‘Culture of Health’ in the United States.” This ‘Culture of Health’ is the RWJF’s own version of the Triple Aim goals first introduced by the Institute of Health in 2008: to provide better access to care for individual patients; to improve health outcomes for large patient populations and lower costs.



There are currently about 2,000 retail clinics in operation, a number that is expected to grow to some 3,000 locations by 2016, according to research from the Convenient Care Association. Annual clinic visits totaled more than 10.5 million last year.



According to Kalorama Information, retail clinics generated sales of more than $1 billion in 2014 — this, of course, only measures the sale of retail clinic services and procedures, and excludes any impact to the host pharmacy in terms of pharmacy and OTC sales. One-third of those visits were driven by a prescription refill, according to Kalorama.