Walgreens is planning to open in-store clinics this summer at two Missouri sites – St. Louis and Kansas City. The Chicago-based drug store chain plans to open 10 clinics in each city.
The clinics, which will be operated by Take Care Health Systems, a company based in Conshohocken, Pa., will be staffed by nurse practitioners and will be open seven days a week. No appointments. Key to providing top care while keeping costs affordable, say Take Care executives, are the proprietary information technology systems.
The technology combines registration, clinical decision support and an automated billing and management system, enabling patient discharge instructions and documentation.
“Technology is absolutely critical,” said Peter Miller, co-founder, president and CEO of Take Care. “We thought about what happens from beginning to end – how technology could be used.”
Miller said he and his team knew the paper and clipboard approach to registration had to go. “We think that stinks,” he said.
He said the Take Care IT team was influenced by a touch-screen sandwich ordering system in Wawa convenience stores. Take Care created its own kiosks for patient registration. Miller views the data input as the beginning of an electronic medical record. The Take Care clinics also gather data on each aspect of the visit to assess quality and efficiency.
“We know in every center, for example, how long it takes for a patient to register.”
The Walgreens plans, which call for opening more clinics in other markets before the end of the year, illustrate a trend by pharmacy chains and retail stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target, to move beyond their core business. Minute Clinics and RediClinics are among Take Care competitors.
Take Care clinics provide health screenings, vaccinations and treatment for common ailments, said Take Care spokeswoman Lauren Tierney. In no way are they designed to replace primary care physicians.
Indeed, Take Care-run clinics meet the retail clinic standards as outlined by the American Association of Family Physicians, Tierney noted.
Driving the clinic trend, said Michael Polzin, a spokesman for Walgreens, is that everyone is looking for ways to deliver healthcare to patients in a more convenient and more affordable way. Plus it draws people into their stores, he said.
For uninsured patients, fees will range between $48 and $68, Polzin said.
Take Care bills the community clinics as “the oldest idea in healthcare…and the newest.”
Take Care operates 16 in-store clinics, including seven at Rite Aid pharmacies in the Portland, Ore., area. It plans to open hundreds more health centers across the country. Earlier this year Take Care completed a $77 million round of equity financing – the largest funding to date in the healthcare space, according to the company. Take Care’s nine Osco clinics in Kansas City will close when the Walgreens clinics open, said Take Care’s Tierney, because Take Care has exclusive arrangements with retailers in each market.
