In this on-demand society in which people want what they want, when they want it, experts are predicting consumers will continue to turn to retail clinics for their healthcare needs in the coming year, reports Managed Healthcare Executive.
With millions of Americans having received their COVID-19 vaccinations at retail clinics, “people are getting more familiar” with such clinics and “realize this has a real place in the care continuum,” says Neal Batra, a principal in the life sciences and healthcare practice at Deloitte Consulting. “The industry is convinced you’ll be able to (receive) some portion of your primary care not from a classic doctor’s office,” he adds.
The clinics at drugstores such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are a draw because of their convenience and easy access, says Joyce Yu-Chia Lee, a health sciences clinical professor at the University of California, Irvine. The goal is to “seamlessly integrate into their (consumers’) busy lives,” says Willie Hoag, co-founder of Tether Advisors, a commercial real estate advisory firm.
But not everything is so rosy for retail healthcare clinic operators. They are fighting off lawsuits accusing them of responsibility for the opioid epidemic. Read more.
