Developers of walk-in retail clinics and the nurse practitioners who staff them say the clinics are a low-cost option for the uninsured to receive medical care and a way to keep people out of emergency departments, not a strategy for usurping traditional physician visits, reports the Chicago Tribune. Retail clinics are projected to grow in number to several hundred by the end of this year, compared with only a half dozen five years ago. In announcing the development of its first 20 clinics, Walgreens Company said it would charge $48 to $68 per visit, although those with health insurance will pay less. The American Medical Association says, however, it is concerned that in some states, physicians are not required to closely oversee nurse practitioners’ work, creating the potential for missed or late diagnoses. And some physicians feel threatened that the clinics may appeal to their suburban patients. "I don't think you will find any of these clinics in the inner city," one physician told the Tribune. At its House of Delegates meeting this week, the AMA is expected to develop recommendations that physicians be involved in creating protocols for the clinics and that nurse practitioners refer certain problems to physicians.
