Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with the people at MinuteClinic to learn about their walk-in medical clinics. They’re located inside select CVS/pharmacy stores. After meeting with them, I was compensated to participate in a video and to write this post to share what I learned with my readers.
The meeting included me getting a lot of information about the MinuteClinics and I was able to ask a lot of clarifying questions about why they are doing this. There are nearly 600 locations in 26 different states and the District of Columbia that are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants who offer medical care to diagnose, treat, and prescribe. Already, it was sounding like a good idea but when they told me they were open 7 days a week all I could think about was my job and being a busy mom.
If I were able to take my kids to the doctor on the weekends or after work (and my hours are the same as my doctor’s office’s hours) that would be a huge benefit to me. If my son needs to see our family practitioner it involves me taking a day off of work. Or, to beat the crowds, I could take him on days when we don’t have school, but every other parent in my community seems to do that same thing so it negates my effort.
I also learned that the MinuteClinic medical clinics treat the common illnesses that we get in my family. Strep throat, bladder and bronchial infections, and ear, nose and eye infections. They also provide wellness and some prevention services that would have been useful for us when my daughter went off to college several years ago when she went to get the meningitis vaccine. Since that one piqued my interest specifically, I asked for more information about it and found that it is typically covered by insurance with co-pay at the MinuteClinics. On top of that, they offer physicals that are required for school. The last physical my son needed was when he was in 9th grade so we won’t be needing one of those, but it’s good to know that would be an option for other parents.
The focus of my conversation with them was in Back-to-School vaccinations. In addition to the securing of school supplies and ensuring that my children are prepared for school with things like haircuts, I would love to be able to stop in at a pharmacy to get all their vaccinations up to date. Like I said, sometimes doctor office hours don’t work for me and this alternative would be welcome. Some of those include tetanus, Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis), flu shots and tuberculosis.
A recent study (Sept. 2008) by RAND Health found that as many as 60% of retail clinic patients do not have a primary care provider, and as a result, clinics like the ones found in select CVS/pharmacy stores are important for access. When I think about my students and how many of them do not get proper medical care I can at least do something to help point them in the direction of their local MinuteClinic.
These MinuteClinics have been around since December 2000 and I feel like I’m really late to this party so I was more than happy to get involved with MinuteClinic for this project of getting the word out. I’m busy. I have 350+ kids. Okay, that includes both my students and my own children BUT STILL. My lifestyle is so busy that when I learned about having some alternative to my own family doctor I was, admittedly, excited.
After asking lots of questions from the on-site medical personnel, they interviewed me on camera. If you see me sweating, it’s because those camera lights are HOT and not because I needed one of them to treat me for the flu.
Does any of this sound like a good idea to you? Would you trust the pharmacy at a drugstore to offer physicals and exams for things like the cold or flu? Or do you only trust your primary physician (that is, if you have one)?
You can read all the other MinuteClinic posts here. To learn more about the MinuteClinic you can go to their website here.
We don’t have CVS, but we have a “Rapid Remedy” here.. 9am-9pm seven days a week.. It’s a lifesaver!! When I start getting sick, I get SICK! If I go two or three days, I’ll be in the hospital again quick! I’m sure these places are the same.. It’s like a minor emergency.. It’s not perfect care, because they only have your word to go on for history, and they tend not to give a LOT in the way of pain meds, understandably, but they do good work.. And they can prevent the strep from getting worse, or the MRSA, or…. you get the pic. I wish I could have worked in one of these places when I could still work.. They’re fun!lol Glad you brought this up.. Many people need to know they take insurance, and ours will take people with no insurance! Good job, Kel..
Thanks, Jean!
By the way, I’m trying to fix the code in this. It’s not really working right now. Sorry!
I’ve been going to Minute Clinics for several years to get my flu shot, when my job doesn’t supply them, which they only do every other year. It’s great and easy and fast.
We don’t have CVS in OR. We are lucky to have an “after hours” clinic associated with our medical group. It’s open evenings and weekends. We also have three Urgent Care clinics. I guess we’re lucky here!
I took my 17 year old granddaughter to a minute clinic at a Walgreens in Chicago near @chicagoleah’s for an ear ache. The nurse practitioner was exceptionally kind and thorough, and after irrigating my GD’s ears (removing earwax) found a rip roaring ear infection 3 days before a plane trip. The care was amazing and incredibly personal. The Nurse practioner had to get my son on the phone with her company to witness her permission for her care as we forgot a note– a simple signed note would have been enough. I thought it would have to be notarized but that isn’t the case. At any rate, I am a happy user of a minute clinic. Her airplane trip was fine having had 5 doses of antibiotics before she left.
Great info to know. I didn’t realize that they took insurance. Do you know how much they charge for services? I’m wondering whether they have any low or lower cost programs for low income people.
We used this when on vacation out of state. It was a lifesaver. The cost was cheap (and eventually reimbursed by our HMO) and it was fast. It was way better than our other alternative — spending hours at an ER for strep throat — which not only would have wasted our vacation time but also would have cost more $$ and used more costly hospital resources.
I’m all for convenient and quick health care, especially when the diagnosis is accurate and the treatment adequate. It’s when patients and families start using these clinics for regular care is when I get, well, angry. I’m a pediatrician. I work at an academic center located in an urban area. More than 80% of my patients have Medicaid or Medicaid managed care as their health insurance. The rest are a smattering of commercial insurances, military insurance or are self-pay. [/disclosure] We don’t have CVSs or Walgreens in our area that have these clinics. But we have plenty of urgent/prompt care clinics. When my patients use these instead of calling the office or coming in, it drives me nuts. We used to have a big problem getting patients in for same-day appointments. We realized this because our patients were frequently going to the ER or urgent/prompt care clinics for URIs and sore throats. We changed around our scheduling structure so that same-day appointments are very easy to get. Our practice is also rare because there’s always a physician available on call. Most practices in town use a nurse triage service to take calls after hours (with physician backup). When my patients use these other services and come back to my office for follow up, I ask them why – why did you go there instead of here, why didn’t you call us? Their response is often they didn’t want to wait or didn’t know they could get in.
Why does this really drive me nuts? The medical home. In a perfect world, the family works with a pediatric care team to ensure medical and non-medical needs for all pediatric patients are met. The family sees one set of providers (not necessarily in one physical location) to get care for their family. This started with medically complex children but now we apply it to all our patients. There’s also continuity of care. One of the other attending in my practice defines this as routine well child care by the same provider or continuity of care over the course of an illness. If Bobby goes to urgent care for his sore throat on Monday and then follows up in my office on Tuesday or Wednesday, I have no idea what his throat looked like on Monday. I also have to spend a great deal of time tracking down records from urgent care to see what they documented and if they did any testing or prescribed any medications. If Bobby came to my office instead on Monday, I would know what his history and exam are when I have to see him again on Tuesday. This is even more magnified as my practice is part of a medical school and residency program. My residents and students need to see the course of that illness evolve over time. Sure, they can read about it. But there’s nothing like the real thing.
If you’re in a pinch, these quick care clinics are great. I hope I’ve made the case for contacting and seeing your regular physician for everything from regular check ups to sore throats and anything in between.
I’m of mixed minds but generally I like the idea and here’s why: a lot of reasons people take their kids (mostly) to ER and urgent care are things a nurse practitioner can handle without wasting the time and money of an ER. A lot of people go to ER because if they are on welfare and they don’t have to pay for it they don’t see it as misusing resources… and then it raises all the rest of our costs when they go. Something like this CVS clinic or the $50 doctor clinic at Walmart should really where they should go.
On the other hand, I worry that a serious problem might be either misdiagnosed or not treated soon enough if one goes to one of these clinics then is told to go to their regular doctor instead. Would they take the time?
Personally I think a lot of trips to the doctor these days are unnecessary but people don’t have the knowledge anymore how to treat minor illnesses and problems. But then people don’t eat right any more either but don’t get me started on how what you eat affects your health!
Good idea! Beats making doctors appts or spending long hours in er rooms!
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