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Features for Senior Citizens
Docs Not Wanting to Give Shot in the Arm to Booming
Retail Health Clinics
Many at AMA convention want them banned, but is it
the competition
 June 25, 2007 The rapid emergence of in-store
retail health clinics those little clinics in Wal-Mart, Walgreen and
even local grocery stores, where seniors and others can get walk-in
health care from a health care professional of less than a doctors rank
may not be getting a shot in the arm from physicians. Several doctor
groups at this weeks meeting of the American Medical Association want
these clinics out of business.
Physician Groups Urge AMA To
Call for Ban on Retail Health Clinics
The
American Medical
Association should seek a ban on retail clinics, several
physician groups said on Sunday at the annual AMA meeting in Chicago,
the
Chicago Tribune reports.
Retail clinics -- low-cost, walk-in facilities
often located in supermarkets, pharmacies and large retail stores -- in
large part are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants
under the supervision of physicians who in most cases are not on site.
Currently, AMA policy on retail clinics in large
part addresses standards of care, such as the use of electronic health
records and adherence to guidelines for proper sanitation and hygiene.
At the meeting, some physician groups said that the
lack of physicians at retail clinics places the health of patients at
risk, and others said that nurse practitioners lack the ability to treat
patients younger than age three properly.
An AMA committee will consider the concerns raised
by the physicians groups and issue a policy recommendation for
consideration by the full 555-member House of Delegates within the next
two days.
According to the
Tribune,
AMA likely will "harden its existing policy toward retail clinics by the
end of the meeting," and "AMA votes on such issues mean it will use its
considerable lobbying clout to push for federal laws to increase
regulation and slow growth of clinics."
Kamran Hashemi, a family physician from Illinois,
said, "There is no more urgent issue than this for the AMA," adding,
"This issue speaks to what all of us do every day in practice."
Michael Polzin -- a spokesperson for
Walgreen,
which operates retail clinics -- in a statement said, "We would be
disappointed if the AMA adopted a policy that is counter to what
patients are demanding, which is more accessible and affordable health
care that reduces overall costs."
He added, "The bottom line is, retail clinics are
improving health care access and health outcomes while keeping the
patient's doctor informed as the patient desires" (Japsen,
Chicago Tribune,
6/24).
Editorial Do Physicians question their health
care or their competition
The concerns of the physician groups about retail
clinics raise the question of "whether the ... medical establishment is
more upset by clinics' 'drive-in kind of approach' or its potential loss
of business for doctors," a
Chicago Sun-Times editorial states.
According to the editorial, "any parent who has
endured the difficulty of getting an appointment with the pediatrician
for a screaming child's earache ... will see the local retail clinic as
an attractive alternative."
The editorial adds, "The clinics also provide a
less costly and less system-clogging option for those working poor or
uninsured people who rely upon emergency rooms for nonemergency needs."
The editorial concludes, "If you can get your
problem taken care of without the trappings of an office visit, your
path to treatment should be unimpeded" (Chicago
Sun-Times, 6/24).
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