Visits To Retail Clinics Grew Fourfold From 2007 To 2009 Although Their Share Of Overall Outpatient Visits Remains Low

摘要

Retail clinics have rapidly become a fixture of the United States health care delivery landscape. In our analyses of trends in retail clinic utilization, we find there has been a four-fold increase in retail clinic visits between 2007 to 2009, with an estimated 5.9 million retail clinic visits in 2009. Compared with the period from 2000–2006, in the period from 2007–9 retail clinic patients are now more likely to be greater than 65 years old (18.9 percent vs. 7.8 percent) and preventive care, in particular the influenza vaccine, has become a larger component of their care (47.5 percent vs. 21.8 percent of visits). Across all retail clinic visits, 44.4 percent are on the weekend or on the weekdays when physician offices are typically closed. Retail clinics appear to be meeting a need for convenient care, in particular during times when physician offices are not open.