Walk-in Clinics Now Way to Go for Minor Health Complaints

We’ve all become used to it. With managed care, you can walk into a clinic with no appointment, but sometimes must wait several hours to be seen. Now Take Care Health Systems, which operates walk-in retail clinics in 350 Walgreens pharmacy stores, will let you check waiting times at its clinics online and even schedule an appointment, according to a story at healthdatamanagement.com.

All patients must do is go to takecarehealth.com, and there they can see just how long it will take for a walk-in visit that day. The site also allows patients to have access to HEDIS patient satisfaction and quality of care scores. HEDIS is “a tool used by more than 90 percent of America's health plans to measure performance on important dimensions of care and service”.

Why has this kind of care become so popular? A recent study by Rand Corp. estimates that, in just two years, use of walk-in clinics has increased more than 10 times what it was in 2010. The study also notes that basic care provided by nurse practitioners and physician assistants in a clinic is almost half as expensive as in a physician office.

“Retail clinics represent a significant innovation in the delivery of simple acute and preventive health care in the United States,” the report read. Rand Corp. says this is because these clinics can provide quick, convenient care for minor health problems like colds, the flu, sore throats, ear infections, and minor skin conditions. 

The clinics are also popular because they’re usually open when doctors’ offices are not – evening and weekend hours, and usually have fixed prices for each service. Care is typically provided by nurse practitioners.

But that doesn’t mean everyone thinks these clinics are wonderful. Of course, you could always go to an emergency room. And while they also let you simply arrive when you need to, you can spend up to a whole day (or night), depending on the severity of other cases, in the waiting area. If you’re in pain, this is not an option.

I’ve visited the emergency room twice in the last several years, once for broken ribs and another time, for a bruised nose, from a fall, both from jogging. I felt more secure going to the ER than a clinic, even though clinics have x-ray machines, too. 

But one of the biggest drawbacks, experts maintain, is that there is no “continuity of care” when you visit a clinic or ER for healthcare. This means that your own doctor may never know of the visit (unless you remember to tell him or her, and we all know how good we are at that kind of thing!), and if it’s something that needs to be followed, very likely the next time you go to the clinic, you will see an entirely new healthcare provider, who will know only what you tell him about your health history.

And sometimes, walk-in clinics may not have the medication or expertise you need. 

I was particularly grateful for one walk-in clinic open on a Sunday night when my son developed a high fever (he had strep throat). We were able to get a prescription filled right away and starting him on the antibiotics that day was much preferable to having to wait for the next morning, when his pediatrician’s office was open.

Some medical practices offer walk-in clinics also. Our pediatrician’s office lets you come in any weekday morning from 8 to 9 a.m. to be seen by a doctor. Of course, you don’t always see the same doctor and even in an office where you’ve been a patient a long time, there isn’t always the continuity of care you’d hope for, either.

But overall, walk-in clinics do help, and are slowly becoming a way of life for people with harried schedules who just can’t wait three days to get in to see a doctor. 

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