Momentum of store-based clinics sparks physicians' interest

A medical group opens a clinic at a supermarket, while the acquisition of MinuteClinic by CVS drugstores may signal future growth at a faster clip.

By Tyler Chin, AMNews staff. Aug. 7, 2006.

After researching the issue for more than a year, ProHealth Physicians Inc., a 155-doctor primary care practice in Farmington, Conn., has decided to open an in-store clinic next month at a supermarket, joining the growing phenomenon of retail-based health clinics staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants.

While clinics staffed by nurse practitioners are seemingly being opened daily in supermarkets, drugstores and other retail sites, few are operated by physician groups or hospital systems. The move by ProHealth highlights the powerful appeal of the retail-clinic concept, which offers consumers the opportunity to treat minor, nonurgent conditions at their convenience at a price point that's lower than physicians'. Operators of the clinics are rolling out aggressive expansion plans, attracting widespread coverage from mainstream media outlets.

Underscoring that momentum, CVS Corp. announced July 13 that it agreed to acquire MinuteClinic, Minneapolis, the largest operator of in-store clinics in the country.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune, citing documents sent to MinuteClinic's shareholders, reported that the purchase price was $170 million, which CVS and MinuteClinic declined to confirm or deny to AMNews.

Separately, the California HealthCare Foundation released a report on July 17 offering an overview of in-store or retail-based clinics, their business models and the questions their emergence raises, such as how they will influence consumer behavior and whether they will be profitable. "The question we ask in our report is, 'Is this going to be the fad of the next few years or is this something that's going to catch on?' " said Margaret Laws, CHCF's director of public financing and policy.