A new issue brief from the Commonwealth Fund titled Checking Up on Retail-Based Health Clinics: Is the Boom Ending? reports that, despite the rapid growth of retail clinics, only a tiny fraction of American families in 2007 had ever used the in-store clinics, typically located in pharmacies, supermarkets and big-box retailers. The issue brief is based on a national study conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).
The number of retail clinics has grown rapidly in recent years, from about 60 retail clinics in 18 states at the beginning of 2006 to more than 900 in 30 states by the end of 2007. As of 2007, 2.3 percent of American families (about 3.4 million families) had ever used a retail clinic, according to HSC’s findings. Of the families reporting they had ever used a retail clinic, about half reported visiting a retail clinic in the prior 12 months before the survey interview, while the other half reported they had visited a retail clinic during an earlier period.
The study found that families that reported not getting or delaying needed medical care at some point in the previous 12 months were almost 2.5 times as likely to have used a retail clinic as families without such access problems. Also, younger families (those with a family respondent aged 18-34) were more than twice as likely as older families (those with a family respondent aged 50-64) to have used a retail clinic.
Read the issue brief.
