Wal-Mart Medical Clinics Stumble

[Joanne98]

Two years ago, Wal-Mart Stores announced plans to have retail medical clinics in 400 of its stores by 2010 and said it saw the potential for as many as 2,000. By February 2008, the retailer had 78 clinics. But now,—after failed venture-capital collaborations, a few faulty partnerships, and a reassessment of the business model—it has only 31.

For a company known for its retail acumen and dominance, that retrenchment illustrates the complicated nature of incorporating basic-care facilities into a big-box business model. Americans have shown increased interest in retail medical clinics, which are typically open seven days a week and operate until as late as 8 p.m. According to the Convenient Care Assn., a trade organization, visits doubled nationally between 2007 and April 2009, to 14% of the population from 7%. The retailing behemoth, however, is still formulating an appropriate model. “Wal-Mart is not a drugstore. I’m not surprised that there would be false starts,” says Candace Corlett, president of consultancy WSL Strategic Retail. Pharmacy chains, meanwhile, have seized a large swath of the retail clinic market.

Still, Wal-Mart sees plenty of opportunity and says it remains on track to have 400 clinics within the next few years to take advantage of growth in the field.
medical mcdonald’s

Wal-Mart collects a brand fee and income from renting space to the clinic operators—and uses its massive buying clout to buy equipment for them—but it holds no ownership stake in the clinics. These offices, also known as “convenient care” clinics, are typically staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants and offer basic treatments for common ailments such as strep throat, sinus infections, and rashes.

Clinics mesh basic care with a retail philosophy that stresses convenience and savings. Prices are usually displayed on menu boards. Visits typically cost $45 to $75, not including prescriptions. The clinics perform physicals, drug tests, blood work, and other noninvasive screenings without the lengthy waits, high prices, and hefty paperwork often associated with hospitals. For more serious cases, the clinics refer patients to a doctor or emergency room. The goal is to “simplify, like a Starbucks or a McDonald’s,” says Karen Bowling, CEO of Solantic, a Jacksonville, (Fla.)-based company that operates 26 clinics, three of them in Wal-Mart stores.

Wal-Mart isn’t alone in searching for a profitable business model in an industry that is striving for greater awareness and traffic. Retail clinics need customer traffic to cover their $500,000 to $600,000 yearly operating costs. With each visit bringing an average of $59 to $80, a clinic requires roughly 20 patients per day to break even and 30 to turn a healthy profit. Walgreens subsidiary Take Care Health Systems, for example, operates more than 345 offices and sees patients as young as 18 months. By expanding its hours and services, Take Care Health had estimated sales of $450,000 per location in 2008, according to Kalorama Information, which publishes health-care market research. “I think the challenge in profitable is as simple as getting to the point where you have an adequate amount of consumer awareness,” says Chip Phillips, president of MinuteClinic, which has 500 retail clinics in 25 states and operates as a unit of drugstore chain CVS Caremark.

Continued>>>
http://www.retailhealthcarenews.com/2009/06/wal-mart-medical-clinics-stumble/

There you have it. The future. Walmart healthcare. It's enough to make you want to commit suicide.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. You're right -

if this is what it comes down to, yeah, it's just easier to OD and get it over with.

I couldn't even read the whole article. My head started to hurt. It's just too horrible............

[Fovea]

2. Walmart will choke on this.

and it is too big to do a Heimlich maneuver on.

Too big to fail, too big to save.
Welcome to your future, as another undead corporation wallyworld.
Perhaps you can merge with GM, Citicorp, BoA, and AIG.

We could call you Planet Fail.

[napi21]

3. I think convenient care clinics have a place in our medical world, but

$45 is still too much money! The people I know who go to the ER because they can't afford the Dr office don't have $45 either! I would think if they could get that $$ down to $20-$25 per visit and have the local physicians refer their patients to those facilities insteat of tying up their own practice with trivial things like sore throats, ear aches, and the flu, everybody would benefit including the patients. Maybe even combine medicade benefits with the clinics so the very poor could go there without cost! It sure would benefit the hospital ER and it's much quicker for the patient too!