Retail health clinics

[Nuclear Unicorn]

In a study published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis report that even families with well-established relationships with a pediatrician take advantage of pediatric retail clinics to take care of their children’s minor health issues, even if they are staffed with non-pediatric health care personnel.

...

The lower cost and increased convenience of the clinics are putting pediatricians on the defensive, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) formally opposes them as an appropriate venue for care of infants and children. AAP officials question the quality of care patients receive, stemming from the fact that children may see different practitioners at each visit.

“The AAP supports that concept of the medical home, a place where all care records are kept and where care is coordinated. Retail-based clinics don’t fit well in that model,” says Dr. Anne Francis, a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and co-author of the AAP Principles Concerning Retail-Based Clinics. “Retail-based clinics have established a niche for quick convenient care. They are poor choices for evaluating sick children, especially younger children. [They] are not the place for children and adolescents to get ongoing care for chronic conditions and not the place to have physicals for school or sports. The lack of access to the complete medical record and appropriate screening surveys and tools make this a poor choice for pediatric care.”


Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/07/23/pediatricians-v-retail-clinics-is-it-time-to-think-beyond-the-office-visit/#ixzz2adD6noKU

If it gets more people to more care without straining limited resources and lowering costs can it be so bad?

I would think, as a rule, nurses and whatnot have the wherewithal and ethics to know when a condition exceeds their capabilities and would thus refer a patient to a fully licensed doctor.

[Sheldon Cooper]

1. I've taken my kids there a couple of times.

They are staffed by registered nurse practitioners, so they are definitely qualified. I did get antibiotics each time, which was predictable since it was in a Walgreen's and the pharmacy was right there. But in each case, they really did need antibiotics so it was fine.

I went because the hours were convenient, the wait time was virtually zero (I think we really lucked out, but each time we waited no more than five minutes to be seen), and we got the same level of care we would have had at the doctor.

My kids were teens at the time. If they had been babies, I don't know that I would have been altogether comfortable with this setup. I probably would have preferred to take them to their pediatrician. But by the time they're teens I've seen enough ear infections, strep throat, flu, etc. to have a feel for the severity of the problem, so I was fine with going to the Get Well clinic.

[mick063]

2. In emergency response, there is a term called the "graded approach"

For example, you don't call an ambulance for a paper cut. You don't summon SWAT for shoplifting.

The clinics have their appropriate place. The Pediatricians have their appropriate place.

The complaint is based upon lost revenue. On the other hand, some parents are not qualified to determine the best initial treatment. Hell, there are parents that deny cancer treatment and opt for "faith" healing instead, bypassing all forms of professional treatment.