Convenience is something that we as consumers crave when we are trying to make our lives easier. But what does it really mean? As defined by Dictionary.com, “anything that saves or simplifies work, adds to one’s ease or comfort, etc.” We can all recall multiple times in our lives when we wanted to simplify our workload or our lives to become more at ease. When it comes to healthcare, “simplify” and “ease” are not words that naturally come to mind. But the dialogue is shifting as consumers realize the healthcare accessibility offered by retail clinics.
Drug Store News recently published a special report on the retail clinic sector and included findings from several recent studies of the industry. More and more consumers are visiting retail clinics for a number of reasons; convenience is a driving force. According to a HSC Health Tracking Household Survey cited in the article, 58.6% of respondents stated that “hours were more convenient” was a major reason for choosing a retail clinic. Accessibility was another key factor, with 48.1% of those surveyed citing “location was more convenient”. Another major reason was the fact that there is “no need to make an appointment” noted by 55.9% of respondents.
This data reflects the steady increase of annual visits to a retail clinic − more than 10.5 in 2014, according to Rand Corp. That number isn’t expected to diminish anytime soon, which ultimately means a promising future. Currently, there are around 2,000 retail clinics across the country, and is expected to increase to about 3,000 locations by 2016.
The retail clinic is equipped to provide care for various medical conditions, including chronic care. As noted in the April 2015 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report, “Retailers are increasing their service offerings to include health screenings and chronic care programs”. Chronic care management encompasses a variety of illnesses, chief among them hypertension, diabetes, and asthma. As care for these conditions becomes more in-demand, retail clinics will continue to expand their role to meet consumer’s needs by providing blood pressure checks, weight management, asthma maintenance therapy, smoking cessation programs and other clinical services.
In our efforts to reduce some of the stress in our lives, discovering ease of access to healthcare is an important factor. As retail clinics continue to expand in locations and in service offerings, we as consumers will continue to seek them out for the convenience and expert care that they can deliver. If you weren’t a part of the 10.5 million annual retail clinic visits in 2014, will you be in 2015? 2016?