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Healthcare’s New [Old] Innovative Disruption
By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; MBA, CMP™
[Publisher-in-Chief]
So, the American Medical Association [AMA] couldn’t or wouldn’t do it; nor could/would the American Osteopathic Association, American Podiatric Medical Association, American Dental Association or any combination thereof.
Neither could/would Hillary Clinton in 1992, nor the US Congress, US Senate, Insurance Association of America [“Big I”], AARP, or plethora of other national organizations, medical trade unions and/or policy-makers.
One is not even sure the current crop of presidential candidates can “do it.”
What it is?
So, what am I talking about?
Why, free-market driven, non-universal [government sponsored] healthcare competitive reform; of course!
And maybe; just maybe; Wal-Mart can do-it?
The Wal-Mart Way
Look, clinics in giant wholesale stores are not new. The optometrists have been there for decades, nobly triaging and providing basic eye-care, but with a certain disdain from “real-doctors” and some patients.
But, all that is fading with the dearth of family practitioners, and rise of on-site and walk-in retail clinics staffed with nurse practitioners, Doctor-Nurse Practitioners [DNPs] and the like. The movement is both gaining traction as well as gravitas. And, the medical kiosks are increasingly being staffed by physicians.
Moreover, with the economy flagging, cheap generic drugs available, convenient hours and locations in many stores, electronic medical records, consumer directed health plans with high-deductibles and private paying patients; Wal-Mart may just have the marketing power to provide some modicum of basic healthcare for many of our nation’s uninsured, or under-insured.
And, imbued with the belief that capitalism always finds a way to wring out marketplace excesses in any industry – albeit slowly – I call the initiative “a perfect-storm of market-place reform.”
Vilfredo Pareto – ReDeux
Perhaps, by being so huge, Wal-Mart understands Pareto’s Law and realizes that many patients get better because-of, or in spite-of, the doctor’s intervention. This was the original promise of managed care that went awry; differentiating and treating the trivial many ills – from the vital few serious diseases.
The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor scarcity) states that, for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy went to 20% of the population. It is a common benchmark in business; e.g., “80% of sales come from 20% of clients.”
Wal-Mart has studied the market and knows where the price and break-points are.
And, when 80% of healthcare expenditures are spent in the last 12 months of life, maybe there really is a better way; The Wal-Mart Way.
Assessment
And Wal-Mart isn’t stopping here. In April, it opened the first of its walk-in health clinics in stores in Atlanta, Dallas and Little Rock, Ark. This joint venture with local hospitals will build up the almost 80 clinics already in place in Wal-Mart stores. The goal is 400 co-branded clinics by 2010.
Wouldn’t Sam, and I don’t mean “Uncle”, be proud of the above accomplishments?
Conclusion
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Filed under: Career Development, Health Economics, Managed Care, Op-Editorials | Tagged: retail medical clinics, Wal-Mart |
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Kroger Care
Did you know that Kroger just announced plans for its convenient care clinics, with a partnership with Nashville Tennessee’s, The Little Clinic, LLC? Does anyone have more info on this development?
-Ann
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Retail Clinics
[Average Cost for a Sore Throat Visit is $59]
A recent study by RAND researchers examined the characteristics of retail clinics. Using cross-sectional data from industry and foundation sources, the team identified 982 retail clinics operating in the United States (as of August 2008). Analysis of these clinics revealed the following:
• The majority of retail clinics were located in the South (43%) and Midwest (31%). Nearly half (44%) of all clinics were located in 5 states (Florida, California, Texas, Minnesota, and Illinois).
• An estimated 35.8% of the U.S. urban population lived within a 10-minute driving distance of a retail clinic.
• All clinics offered treatment for pharyngitis (sore throat)
• Nearly all accepted private insurance (97%) and Medicare fee-for-service (93%); 60% accepted some form of Medicaid.
• For an uninsured patient, the average cost for a sore throat visit was $59.
• Three organizations: CVS, Walgreens, and Target, operated 73% of the clinics.
Source: RAND Health. Health Care on Aisle 7: The Growing Phenomenon of Retail Clinics, October 27, 2009. http://www.rand.org
Burke
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Retail Stores and the Shift to a Consumer-Centric Health Marketplace
Dr. Marcinko – The number of consumers in the individual health insurance market is expected to double by 2019. And, many of the new consumers will be health insurance novices facing a daunting array of decisions.
In light of these changes, innovative insurers are increasingly viewing retail stores as a consumer-friendly way to facilitate purchasing and encourage proactive health care choices.
Justin
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Use of retail health clinics quadruples from 2007 to 2009
An increase in the number of retail medical clinics across the country helped spur a four-fold increase in their use between 2007 and 2009 according to new research from the Rand Corp.
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/use-retail-health-clinics-quadruples-2007-2009?topic=05,29
Ann Miller RN MHA
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Why Walmart and Nontraditional Players Could Be Formidable Forces in Health Care
Walmart, Walgreens and other nontraditional players are storming the field. Can you match their focus on convienence and consumer satisfaction?
http://www.hhnmag.com/display/HHN-news-article.dhtml?dcrPath=/templatedata/HF_Common/NewsArticle/data/HHN/Magazine/2014/Sep/Editors-Notes-walmart-clinics&utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HHN
Oh, and be sure to keep an eye out for the next wave of nontraditional competitors.
Ann Miller RN MHA
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