MinuteClinic seeks waivers of Massachusetts public health rules

But medical societies and others say retail-based clinics should follow the same regulations as physician practices in the state.

By Carolina Procter, AMNews staff. July 9, 2007.

Three medical associations and two other health care organizations in Massachusetts have asked the state's Dept. of Public Health to exercise careful consideration and hold a public hearing before waiving certain clinic requirements in favor of MinuteClinic, the Minneapolis-based operator of retail-based health clinics.

MinuteClinic asked the state for exemptions from several requirements, such as providing receptacles for soiled linens and having examination rooms of a certain size, in preparation for its plans to open clinics in Boston-area CVS pharmacies.

The Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians, the Massachusetts Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Hospital Assn. and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers obtained copies of the requests and sent a letter to the state's public health commissioner asking for a review.

"There should not be one set of rules in place for physician practices and a separate set of rules for these commercial ventures," said Dale Magee, MD, a Shrewsbury, Mass., ob-gyn and president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. "If we're going to take care of the same patients, we should have the same standards."

In 18 pages of waiver request forms, MinuteClinic asked for exemptions from administrative and sanitation requirements that the company feels don't apply to the retail model.

For example, state regulations say exam rooms must be 80 square feet, but MinuteClinic's are only 54 "because of the limited scope of services" provided, according to one request. Another regulation calls for a workroom area for soiled items, but MinuteClinic wrote it "generates no soiled linens."