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Jan 10, 2008 12:56 pm US/Eastern
CVS To Open Health Clinics In Massachusetts
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
If you or your child is sick, you know getting to see a doctor can sometimes take a while. Pretty soon, you'll have another option: your local drug store.
Yes that's right, your local drug store.
After much debate Massachusetts officials have decided to allow CVS to open health clinics inside their stores later this year.
The "Minute Clinics" could start showing up in CVS stores by mid-summer, and about 30 of them could be up and running by the end of 2008.
This wasn't an easy decision for the Department of Health; but in the end they decided that with the right oversight the clinics could fill a need.
The state has a shortage of primary care physicians; and with more people now forced to have health insurance, officials decided this could ease the added demand on doctors.
The "Minute Clinics" will be staffed by nurse practitioners; and will provide routine care including physicals, flu shots, and treatment for minor illnesses like colds, rashes and infections.
However not everyone's happy with the decision to o.k. these clinics, including Boston Mayor, Tom Menino.
Some doctors are upset because they say some of the so-called "minor" illnesses are sometimes symptoms of bigger health problems.
Without a doctor there to tell the difference between something like a simple sore throat or a bigger health problem; they say some patients could be missing out on the care they need.
Boston Mayor Tom Menino agrees. He thinks this type of clinics could pose a serious threat to patient safety and is asking Boston's Public health Commission to take a closer look at this proposal.
"Limited service medical clinics run by merchants in for-profit corporations will seriously compromise quality of care and hygiene," said Menino. "Allowing retailers to make money off of sick people is wrong. People need continuous care and this type of for-profit facility is ignoring the standards and measures needed for quality care."
Menino says while the clinics may be convenient, he's worried about their safety and how they may undermine health centers and hospitals.
"Mini-clinics at CVS are ill-equipped to monitor community health needs, particularly around outbreaks and may hinder the city's ability to quickly respond to public health emergencies," said the mayor. "CVS has stated that they hope to open 120 clinics in their stores – this means 120 experienced nurse practitioners will be recruited away from the very institutions that provide comprehensive care."
There's also the fear that patients would be pressured to get prescriptions from the CVS where they went to the clinic, even if it's not their normal pharmacy.
One condition for approving these clinics was strict state oversight. Each clinic will have to be individually licensed.
Your health insurance should cover the costs of the visits to these clinics.
A physical exam costs about $60, while something like a "strep throat test" costs about $15.
The clinics claim to have an average wait time of about 15 minutes.
Massachusetts won't be the first state with these clinics; there are hundreds of already running across the U.S. CVS hopes to ultimately run about 2,500 of them around the country.
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