Consumers get as good or better treatment for minor ailments at a fraction of the cost of a visit to the doctor when they go to an in-store clinic. That is the finding of a new study published in the September edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The research funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the National Center for Research Resources, part of the National Institutes of Health, looked at data from 2,100 patients treated for ailments including ear infections, sore throats and urinary tract infections.
The quality of care provided was found to be on par with doctors' offices and urgent care centers and better than a trip to the emergency room. The cost for the treatments at in-store clinics were substantially lower than the other options.
According to the study's findings, the total cost for treatment at in-store clinics was $110 compared to $156 at an urgent care center, $166 at a MD's office and $570 for an emergency room trip. Most of the patients in the study had health insurance.
"We need to continue to examine retail medical clinics as they grow in number, but the results we have seen thus far suggest they provide high-quality care in a convenient and cost-effective fashion," Dr. Ateev Mehrotra of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Rand research institute told Reuters.
Discussion Questions: With growing evidence that in-store clinics provide quality care at reasonable prices, is it time for retailers to actively educate consumers on how much the same procedure will cost going to other healthcare providers? Can creating a "retail" approach help bring down the nation's healthcare costs?