There's an article in WaPo today about a new trend(?) by some drugstores and such to provide "quick-stop healthcare," that is, physician assistants and nurse practitioners on site (like at CVSs and such) that provide such healthcare services as diagnosis and treatment of common maladies (such as strep throat) and administration vaccinations. The up side to this is that these stations are very accessible, available more convenient and longer hours, and charge reasonable prices for their services.
On the one hand, one can see the attraction to patients over regular medical centers and doctors' offices: no waiting, accessibility, availability of vaccines such as flu shots, reasonable charges, no hassle. I know for a fact that it can be very inconvenient to make a regular appointment at my medical center - one must schedule a month ahead to be sure and you have to go through the healthcare insurance system. Then you have to hope that the office staff are competent in submitting accurate and appropriate charges to the PPO/HMO/insurance company (I had an incident recently where that was not the case, and I had been dealing with the same office for years). Sometimes that's simply not acceptable or feasible.
On the other hand, regular healthcare facilities are concerned that there's no continuity of care, and that this may end up jeopardizing the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable patients - children. One can also see that these "quick-stop" stations take a chunk out of doctors'/healthcare facilities' profit. I perused my latest statement from my PPO and for what was a straight-forward shot, administered by a nurse, the PPO was charged for "follow-up care" and for the physician of record's time (when I didn't actually see or speak to the physician at all - just the nurse). And not cheap either.
I think this is a really interesting situation to consider. We have these "help stations" serving a need and solving existing (and continuing) healthcare issues - great for the consumer. Look, I have a CVS across the street from where I live. Would I be happy to mosey on over, let's say, on a Sunday to get a flu shot? You bet. Would I mind that they're not MDs but PAs and NPs? No, because I've had PAs/NPs treat me frequently in a regular healthcare facility over the years with no ill effects & they tend to be easier to deal with than some doctors. Plus, no middleman with staff & insurance. Just pay the fee. On the other hand, if patient histories aren't taken/taken carefully, and if the treatment information isn't conveyed to the primary doctor/facility, there could be serious problems. Evidently, these stations do take care of the above items. And they're not performing brain surgery - just minor - but necessary - procedures. Well, perhaps (and this thought is discussed in the article too) regular facilities need to be more patient-friendly and take a lesson from these retail-based stations.
Technorati topic: healthcare
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I saw the WaPo piece on in-store clinics, and as has unfortunately become commonplace in journalism these days, they take other people's second-hand word for things and don't do the actual reporting themselves. As such, they got wrong or missed two important points.
First, the good news is that most insurers now already cover these visits as a typical office visit. The insurers love the idea because their cost is reduced substantially. Check with yours to see if they cover in-store clinics. If they don't, it'll only be a matter of time before they do. Last I checked, Aetna, CIGNA, UnitedHealth, Humana, and a few state Blues plans (Minnesota and NC come to mind) already had agreements in place with all the major in-store clinic chains (of which there are now about 15).
The other thing left out by the WaPo piece is that all of these clinics have built the latest in electronic medical records technology into their business model from the get-go. They have to because they're main selling point is the reduced overhead, which EMRs accomplish in spades. This blows the "continuity of care" skeptics out of the water. With their electronic systems, in-store clinics can instantly send a record of any services they perform or drugs they prescribe directly to your regular doctor for him to file appropriately. All you have to do is ask them to do so, but I bet most of them make it standard operating procedure to ask if there's a doctor you'd like a record of the visit sent to.
I'm a huge fan of the in-store clinic concept. I see it as a key component of reforming our healthcare system.
Post a Comment